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Updates on California politics: Lawmakers send gun measures to Gov. Brown, initiative on parole overhaul makes the Nov. 8 ballot

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Welcome to Essential Politics, our daily feed on California government and politics news. Here’s what we’re watching:

You can find our earlier coverage of the June 7 California primary here. Be sure to follow us on Twitter for more, or subscribe to our free daily newsletter and the California Politics Podcast

Southern California lawmakers homeward bound after wrapping up work in Sacramento

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Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to revamp prison parole rules qualifies for the November ballot

California voters will consider expanded opportunities for state prisoners to be paroled under Gov. Jerry Brown’s initiative that qualified for the fall ballot on Thursday.

Brown, who unveiled his proposal at the end of January and successfully fought back a legal challenge that he had waited too late, has insisted the proposal is both an important fix to sentencing laws he helped loosen in 1977 and necessary to help the state comply with federal court orders to shrink the prison population.

(Lenny Ignelzi / Associated Press)

“If approved by the voters, this Public Safety Act will prevent court ordered inmate releases, encourage rehabilitation, and make California safer,” said the governor in a written statement on Thursday.

The initiative, an amendment to the state Constitution, would allow some prisoners serving time for a nonviolent crime to be eligible for early release based on their ability to earn credits for education efforts and good behavior while behind bars.

“Let’s take the basic structure of our criminal law and say, when you’ve served fully the primary sentence, you can be considered for parole,” Brown said when unveiling the proposal in January.

The ballot measure would also eliminate the existing law that sends some juvenile offenders immediately to an adult court hearing.

Brown hinted in a spring campaign fundraising email that the initiative is essential in preventing court-ordered prisoner releases to ease overcrowding.

The initiative was in danger of being blocked by a legal challenge, with district attorneys arguing that Brown had waited too late. The state Supreme Court rejected that challenge earlier this month.

Update 4:15 pm: This story has been updated to include a statement from Gov. Brown.

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Voters will weigh extension of temporary taxes on California’s wealthy taxpayers in November

An initiative to add 12 years to the life of temporary income tax rates on Californians earning above $250,000 a year secured a place on the Nov. 8 statewide ballot on Thursday.

The proposal, championed by a coalition of education and healthcare groups, seeks to extend the income tax provisions in 2012’s Proposition 30. Those taxes are set to expire in 2018.

The independent Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates the tax initiative will bring in at least $5 billion a year. Last month, budget advisors to Gov. Jerry Brown estimated the proposal could be the difference between small budget surpluses or multimillion-dollar deficits two years from now.

Brown, who led the campaign to pass Prop. 30, has not officially endorsed the new tax measure. But it was his insistence that forced the initiative’s backers to revise their plan in January so that a portion of the tax revenues would be placed in the state’s newly expanded rainy-day fund.

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President Obama signs two bills backed by California lawmakers

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What will Gov. Jerry Brown do on gun control bills?

(Andrew Burton / Getty Images)

California lawmakers sent new gun control legislation to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk on Thursday, including a measure to make it easier to confiscate weapons from someone a court deemed dangerous.

Reporters asked the governor whether he would sign or veto the bills as he left an event outside the Capitol.

His answer?

“I’ve got to look at them.”

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California lawmakers pass unprecedented package of gun control bills

California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), from left, Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) and Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) shake hands after a measure to restrict the sale of ammunition was approved by the Assembly.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Spurred by outrage over recent mass shootings, California lawmakers on Thursday sent Gov. Jerry Brown a sweeping package of gun control bills, including a ban on the sale of semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines, background checks for those buying ammunition and new restrictions on homemade firearms.

The flood of bills was introduced in response to the December terrorist attack in San Bernardino that killed 14 people at a holiday party, but momentum for action swelled after the June 12 mass shooting at an Orlando, Fla., nightclub that killed 49 people.

“The killer sprayed that nightclub with bullets,” Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) said during the floor debate Thursday. “How could someone filled with so much hate have such easy access to ammunition?”

Among the bills the Senate sent the governor was a measure from De León that would require ammunition buyers to show an ID and have their name checked against a list of felons and others prohibited from having firearms.

Most Republicans voted against that bill and others. Republican Sen. Jim Nielsen of Gerber said the measures would hinder citizens who obey the laws and would be ignored by criminals.

“Gun violence is not committed by law-abiding citizens, it is committed by criminals,” Nielsen said during the floor debate.

The measures were expedited to the governor’s desk Thursday in hopes that he might act on them immediately.

Legislators hope to convince Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom to drop an initiative that has qualified for the November ballot that contains many of the same provisions in the gun bills approved Thursday. Newsom has indicated he has no plans to drop his ballot measure by Thursday’s deadline, saying his proposal goes further in controlling firearms.

California already has some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation, including a ban on assault rifles, but lawmakers said the new bills were meant to plug loopholes exploited by gun manufacturers and owners.

The bills sent to the governor include:

Ammunition sales: Requires an ID and background check to purchase ammunition and creates a new state database of ammunition owners

Large ammunition clips: Bans possession of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 bullets.

Bullet buttons: Two proposals would strengthen California’s assault weapon law by outlawing a small buttonhole used for quickly swapping out ammunition magazines

Limit on gun loans: A new restriction on loaning guns without background checks.

Stolen gun reporting: Stolen or lost guns would have to reported within five days.

False gun reporting: A new punishment for falsely reporting guns as stolen

Ghost guns: Homemade “ghost guns” would need to be registered and there would be new limits on selling them

Long gun limits: Only one rifle or shotgun could be purchased per month

Gun research: Urges Congress to lift the prohibition against publicly funded scientific research on the causes of gun violence and its effects on public health

Gun restraining orders: Bans a person subject to a “gun violence restraining order” from having any firearms or ammunition while the order is in effect

Gun theft: Clarifies that theft of a firearm is grand theft and is punishable as a felony

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Low-income housing bond still alive for November ballot

The author of a $3-billion proposal to build low-income housing statewide still wants the measure to appear before voters in November, even though it won’t meet the deadline for getting issues on the ballot.

The measure from Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Jose) has passed the Senate but now is in the Assembly Appropriations Committee awaiting action before would reach the Assembly floor. It requires a two-thirds vote to pass as well as the signature of Gov. Jerry Brown before it goes before voters.

Beall is aiming to get the measure approved by the Assembly committee prior to the Aug. 12 deadline for fiscal legislation, according to his office. Lawmakers have routinely bypassed normal election deadlines in years past to add proposals to the fall ballot late into the summer.

The bond would pay for new housing construction — specifically for development near transit and in high-density urban areas — and provide housing for farmworkers and mortgage assistance.

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Lawmakers give final approval to a $2-billion bond to help house the homeless

A bipartisan group of legislators sent Gov. Jerry Brown a $2-billion bond measure on Thursday that would provide housing for the homeless who suffer from mental illness.

The proposal, part of a plan unveiled by Senate Democrats in January, would fund new and refurbished housing in communities across California. The bonds will be repaid with proceeds from a tax on incomes above $1 million, approved by voters in 2004 to fund mental health programs.

“Republicans and Democrats alike recognize that finding permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless suffering from mental illness will improve the quality of life in our communities and give hope to thousands of Californians,” said Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) in a statement.

The proposal, part of the new state budget deal, earned bipartisan support after GOP demands for a separate effort to boost funding for helping homeless veterans and youth.

“We also fought to create more oversight and accountability in how funds to serve the state’s mentally ill population are spent,” said Assembly GOP leader Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley) in a statement.

Brown is expected to sign the bond proposal into law.

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Bill sent to governor requires background checks on ammunition buyers

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Lawmakers send governor bill to expand seizure of guns from persons judged dangerous

(Scott Olson / Getty Images)

State lawmakers on Thursday sent the governor a bill that would significantly expand a law that allows certain people to petition to the courts to confiscate guns from persons deemed to be dangerous.

Part of a large batch of gun-control measures expected to be acted on Thursday by the Legislature, the “gun violence restraining order” bill was given final legislative approval by the Senate after a debate in which supporters invoked the mass shootings in Orlando, Fla., and San Bernardino and Isla Vista.

The Isla Vista incident in 2014, in which a disturbed man killed six UC Santa Barbara students and wounded 13 others, resulted in a law that took effect in January that allows the police and family members to petition a court for a “gun violence restraining order,” removing firearms from persons they believe are dangerous for up to one year.

The Isla Vista shooter’s family tried unsuccessfully to alert authorities about his troubling behavior before the incident.

In Orlando, where a gunman killed 49 people this month, co-workers of the killer told authorities beforehand that they were concerned he might be a public danger after he bragged of being part of Hezbollah and said he hoped to die as a martyr when police raided his apartment.

The bill sent to the governor Thursday expands the list of those who can petition for restraining orders to include co-workers, employers, mental health professionals and employees of high schools and colleges.

Those people, according to state Sen. Hannah Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), “are the most likely to see early warning signs when someone is becoming a danger to themselves or others.”

She said 30 restraining orders have been issued under the current law.

“This is trying to prevent a tragedy from happening,” she said.

Republican Sen. Jim Nielsen of Gerber voted with other Republicans against the bill, saying it could lead to disgruntled co-workers reporting each other.

“This goes a little too far,” Nielsen said.

The order to remove guns from an individual can be appealed by the individual who is targeted. So far this year, Los Angeles County reports seven “gun violence restraining orders” have been issued.

The NRA and other gun-owner rights groups are joined in opposing the measure by the American Civil Liberties Union of California, which said in a letter to lawmakers that the bill “creates significant potential for civil rights violations.”

Co-workers with an irrational fear may target a fellow employee without cause, and the bill lacks sufficient due process protections, the ACLU warned.

“An ex-parte order means the person subjected to the restraining order is not informed of the court proceeding and therefore has no opportunity to appear to contest the allegations,” the group wrote.

Meanwhile, legislative leaders including Senate President Pro Tem Kevin De León (D-Los Angeles) have requested that Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom drop an initiative that has qualified for the November ballot that has many of the same gun laws proposed in legislation.

If the initiative passes, its provisions would supersede new laws approved by the Legislature where they overlap.

A squabble has erupted between the De León and Newsom camps over the Senate leader’s decision to amend one of his bills that would require those buying ammunition to show identification so a seller can check that if that person is on a list of felons and others prohibited from possessing firearms.

Under the amendment, De León’s ammo bill would become law instead of a similar provision in the initiative.

Dan Newman, a political consultant for the Newsom initiative, said the change jeopardizes attempts to toughen the law.

“It raises a slew of legal questions which risk giving the NRA the chance to thwart progress by tying it up in the courts,” Newman said.

Dan Reeves, the chief of staff for De León, said the legislation is a better proposal.

“The amendment is designed to ensure a smoother implementation of background checks for ammunition purchases that is less burdensome to gun owners and will cost taxpayers half as much,” Reeves said.

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National Democrats hope to connect Republican in heavily Latino district to Donald Trump

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is forging ahead with efforts to link Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) with Donald Trump’s rhetoric, despite the congressman’s announcement last week that he won’t back the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

“The only thing that has changed is that David Valadao has exposed himself as a say-anything politician in deep trouble,” committee spokeswoman Barb Solish said in a statement. “Valadao’s words are too little, too late. Running from Trump is no longer an option, and Valadao must accept the reality that he is on the Trump ticket.”

Democrats have targeted Valadao’s heavily Latino Central Valley district as a potential pickup opportunity in the fall.

Valadao avoided talking about the presidential race for months, saying he would support the eventual nominee.

But in a statement released by his campaign Thursday, Valadao said he can’t support Trump and he won’t back presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton either.

He cited concerns with Trump’s understanding of foreign policy and the legislative process in an interview with KBAK-TV in Bakersfield.

It isn’t yet clear whether Valadao will face Emilio Jesus Huerta or Daniel Parra in the fall. As of Thursday morning, Huerta led by 1,117 votes.

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Voters will consider a new use for bag fees on November ballot

California voters in November will not only decide whether to uphold the state’s plastic bag ban, but will also whether to redirect fees on paper and reusable bags to environmental projects.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla on Wednesday announced that a bag fee initiative, backed by the plastic bag industry, has qualified for the Nov. 8 statewide ballot.

The American Progressive Bag Alliance submitted nearly 600,000 signatures in favor of the initiative after it gathered more than 800,000 signatures on petitions for a referendum on the statewide bag ban.

The bag ban law “has never been about protecting the environment,” Lee Califf, executive director of the bag alliance, said in a prepared statement. “This measure gives voters the opportunity to make sure that any state-mandated fee will go to environmental causes, which is what voters thought they were getting in the first place.”

The ballot measure would require stores to deposit their bag sale proceeds into a special fund administered by the Wildlife Conservation Board. It would mandate the board develop regulations to implement the law.

An analysis by the independent Legislative Analyst’s Office has estimated that revenue redirected from retailers to environmental efforts could total tens of millions of dollars annually.

If the referendum is successful in stopping the statewide ban on single-use bags, then the initiative would only impact bag fees in communities with local bans in place.

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Initiative to speed up the death penalty process qualifies for the November ballot

A death row inmate is escorted at San Quentin State Prison.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

An initiative that aims to speed up executions in California qualified for the Nov. 8 ballot on Thursday, making it one of two competing measures voters will weigh on the death penalty.

The Secretary of State’s Office said it was able to verify a random sample of signatures among the more than 593,000 collected.

Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, co-chair of the Californians for Death Penalty Reform and Savings Campaign, called it an important day for public safety and said the organization would work to kill the opposing ballot measure.

“Death row killers earned their sentences recommended by juries and imposed by judges across California,” Schubert said. “Justice demands that those sentences be carried out. These killers should not be rewarded by repealing the death penalty.”

Both capital punishment ballot measures would require current death row inmates to work and pay restitution to victims. One measure would keep the death penalty, while the other would replace it with life without parole.

The pro-death-penalty initiative limits the number of petitions prisoners can file to challenge their convictions and sentences, and would provide new deadlines intended to expedite appeals.

It requires attorneys appointed to the cases of indigent defendants who take non-capital appeals to accept death penalty appeals, and it exempts prison officials from the state’s regulatory process for developing execution drugs.

Death penalty supporters say the measure would reform a broken system, reducing the time from conviction to execution from as long as 30 years to 10 to 15 years.

The independent Legislative Analyst’s Office has estimated that the initiative could potentially provide the state tens of millions of dollars annually in correctional savings. But it could cost the state just as much annually for appeals proceedings over a period of several years, and its fiscal impact on such court expenses in the longer run is unknown.

UPDATE 6:20 p.m. This story has been updated with additional information.

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California House Republicans ask President Obama to halt benefits for immigrants in the U.S. illegally

(J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

Nine California Republican House members are asking the Obama administration to reject California’s application to extend benefits under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to those in the country illegally.

Earlier this month, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill to make California the first state to ask federal officials to allow immigrants in the U.S. illegally to buy insurance through its state health exchange. Under SB 10, the state will formally ask the federal government to allow those in the U.S. illegally to buy insurance through Covered California, without cost to the state or federal government.

The House members’ letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew was released Wednesday.

“This brazen attempt to circumvent the will of Congress adds insult to injury for the millions of Americans who have already been aggravated and misled by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” the letter states.

The letter also points to a 2009 address Obama made to a joint session of Congress.

“There are those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This too is false,” Obama said in the speech. “The reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.”

The Affordable Care Act explicitly prohibits people from purchasing coverage through a state insurance exchange if they aren’t legal residents.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) said in a statement the letter is about keeping those commitments.

“When this disaster of a law passed, the American people were told under no uncertain terms that coverage under Obamacare would not be extended to illegal immigrants,” he said. “Yet here we are six years later and the state of California is already trying to wipe away this promise.”

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Rep. Maxine Waters slams House Speaker Paul Ryan at L.A. gun control event: ‘He’s spineless’

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Rep. Xavier Becerra hosts gun control discussion at L.A. City Hall

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Billionaire Tom Steyer won’t decide whether to run for governor until after November

Tom Steyer is considering a run for governor of California while spending millions to register voters.
Tom Steyer is considering a run for governor of California while spending millions to register voters.
(AFP / Getty Images)

As he attended a Capitol rally Wednesday with the head of the United Farm Workers and later gave a speech to the Harry S. Truman Democratic Club, billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer looked very much like a candidate running for office.

But the former hedge fund manager hedged when asked when he will decide whether to run for governor of California.

“I am completely committed between now and Nov. 8 to working for a great Democratic victory, and after that I will figure out what the best way is to keep pushing the same values we are pushing this year,” Steyer told The Times in an interview before the UFW event.

At the event, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez praised Steyer for donating thousands of large bottles of water to pickers working in California’s fields during this year’s hot harvest, and both men called for agricultural businesses to abide by tough new rules to protect farm workers from overexposure to the sun.

Steyer was scheduled later to give a speech to the Democratic club on his “vision for California.”

His frequent public appearances have many speculating that he will run for governor in 2018. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is the only high-profile candidate who has already declared his candidacy for governor.

Steyer has spent about $700,000 to help register Democratic voters for this year’s elections and contributed $1 million to help get a measure on the November ballot that would raise the tobacco tax in California.

“We know what we believe in and what we are fighting for. but the right way to take on that fight at any one time I honestly don’t know,” he said. “There’s a lot of water to flow under the bridge before I make a decision about what is the right thing to do after November.”

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State lawmakers still at a stalemate on police transparency rules

California lawmakers have reached a stalemate over how much the public should know about the official activities of police officers.

All but one of this year’s major bills dealing with access to police records are now dead, leaving the state’s strong limitations against releasing law enforcement information in tact.

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Initiative to legalize recreational pot use qualifies for November California ballot

Different strains of pot are displayed for sale at a marijuana dispensary in Denver in 2013.
Different strains of pot are displayed for sale at a marijuana dispensary in Denver in 2013.
(Brennan Linsley / Associated Press)

An initiative that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana in California officially qualified for the Nov. 8 ballot on Tuesday as the campaign for the measure has taken a commanding lead in fundraising for the battle ahead with opponents.

The Secretary of State’s Office certified that a random sample found sufficient signatures among the 600,000 turned in by a coalition that includes former Facebook President Sean Parker and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“We think voters in California are ready to end marijuana prohibition and replace it with a more sensible system,” said Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, which has about 200,000 supporters nationwide.

The initiative would allow adults ages 21 and older to possess, transport and use up to an ounce of cannabis for recreational purposes and would allow individuals to grow as many as six plants.

More than $3.7 million has been raised so far by the leading campaign for the initiative, Californians to Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana While Protecting Children.

The opposition campaign, which argues it is bad for public safety, has raised about $125,000 so far from groups including the Assn. of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs State PAC and the Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Assn.

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Healthcare workers union is withdrawing its November initiative on hospital CEO salaries

Four days after losing a court battle with hospitals, leaders of California’s healthcare workers union decided Tuesday to abandon a ballot measure that would limit the annual compensation of hospital executives.

The executive board of the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers will now ask to have almost 650,000 voter signatures set aside on the initiative to limit CEO pay at nonprofit hospitals.

“This is only a short-term delay,” said Steve Trossman, a spokesman for SEIU-UHW. “We’re going to be coming back in 2018.”

On Friday, a Sacramento judge agreed with an arbitrator that the union had violated what amounted to a peace pact with the California Hospitals Assn. when it filed the initiative in late 2015.

Based on preliminary data from county elections officials, the initiative was on its way to qualifying for the Nov. 8 ballot. Thursday is the deadline for the checking of signatures on all initiatives to be completed.

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U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez: Extended trip to Spain was ‘on my own dime’

(J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

As dozens of House Democrats staged a 25-hour sit-in on Capitol Hill last week to demand votes on gun control legislation, all but one Democratic House member from California joined in.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Orange) was unable to participate because she was in Spain after a two-day trade mission there, her representative said. Sanchez extended her stay after the trade mission by six days.

At a campaign event in Santa Monica on Tuesday to discuss education policy, Sanchez responded to questions about her absence from the sit-in, saying there wasn’t much she could do while out of the country once she found out about the action.

“The sit-in was very organic, and it just happened on Wednesday night,” Sanchez said. “I took the first flight available from Spain.”

Sanchez flew out of Spain that Thursday morning.

Initially, Sanchez’s aides told The Times she was unable to participate in the sit-in because she was out of the country for the trade mission. But the trade mission ended June 17, six days before Sanchez left Europe.

Her staff later said Sanchez was meeting with officials in Gibraltar about trade and the “Brexit” vote, and took a personal day.

“That was all on my own dime, by the way,” Sanchez said Tuesday, adding that her husband also paid his way to accompany her on the trip.

Sanchez said her meetings with officials, including the commandant and chief minister of Gibraltar, occurred after the trade mission.

“I like to go and talk to leaders, especially when they’re asking to talk to us without the State Department,” she said.

Luis Vizcaino, a Sanchez U.S. Senate campaign spokesman, said afterward that any suggestion that Sanchez’s absence from the sit-in indicates a lack of commitment to stricter gun controls is “outrageous.”

He pointed to a 2015 report from the state auditor that state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, Sanchez’s opponent for U.S. Senate, failed to implement recommendations related to a state program intended to keep guns out of the hands of potentially dangerous people.

“If anybody’s putting public safety at risk in terms of gun control, it’s the attorney general,” he said. “When [members of Congress] return in July, and if there’s a sit-in, the congresswoman will be there shoulder to shoulder with her colleagues.”

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House Democrats demand gun control vote during recess

Rep. Doris Matsui and some of her fellow Democrats drowned out the acting speaker Tuesday afternoon during a brief, routine House meeting as they demanded a vote on gun legislation.

The House has recessed until July 5, but meets for short “pro forma” sessions every few days in an effort to block the president from making recess appointments. Typically no legislative business or debate occurs during such sessions, and except for a member chosen as acting speaker, they are rarely attended by members of Congress.

Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) told reporters afterward that the Democrats wanted to remind the public that the House went on a break without holding a vote on gun control or safety. Democrats want increased background checks and to prohibit people on the FBI’s watch list from purchasing guns.

Before House members left, Democrats seized the floor for a 25-hour sit-in, telling personal stories of constituents who have died, shouting down the speaker whenever he moved for a vote and occasionally breaking into song.

“We were standing up for the American people against the intransigence of the Republican majority,” Matsui said Tuesday. “Quite frankly, we need to do something. We had to do something.”

Dozens of House Democrats are holding gun-violence-related events back home Wednesday to keep attention on the issue as news of the June 12 killing of 49 people in an Orlando gay nightclub fades from the headlines.

California Democrats are holding similar events in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities around the state this week.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) told a Wisconsin radio station this week that he won’t tolerate another sit-in when the House returns.

“We are not going to handle it the same way,” Ryan said Sunday on WISN’s “UpFront with Mike Gousha.” “We will not take this. We will not tolerate this.”

Matsui said if Republican leaders will work with Democrats there doesn’t have to be another sit-in.

Israel wouldn’t commit to another sit-in when the House returns after July 4, saying the minority party has other tools in its toolbox.

“If Speaker Ryan insists on denying the American people a vote on ‘no-fly, no-buy’ then we’ll reach into that toolbox and continue to avail ourselves of the tools,” he said. “Some will be blunt, some will be sharp. Some will be blunt and sharp. Today we are here.”

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Rep. Loretta Sanchez talks college affordability with recent grads in L.A. area

On the heels of a trade mission to Spain, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Orange) was back in California on Tuesday, holding a roundtable discussion with recent graduates and other people to discuss education policy.

Sanchez noted that she relied on federal and state education grants when she attended college, and was enrolled as a toddler in the early childhood education program Head Start.

“My parents came to this country with very little education...and with very little money,” Sanchez said, noting that they went on to raise seven college-educated kids. “I think they did pretty well.”

Sanchez listened as recent graduates, a fifth-grade teacher and a grandfather of 13 shared their concerns about the cost of education.

Evan Zemlin-Kisor, 25, said he graduated earlier this year form Chapman University and will attend Loyola Law School this fall.

He emphasized the importance of stabilizing tuition hikes so that students don’t end up owing vastly more than they anticipated.

“I want to know at the beginning what I’m paying for,” he said.

Ann Steinberg, a fifth-grade teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, said she’s appalled by the amount of debt students leave college with today.

“Today, I really see everybody struggling to pay those fees,” Steinberg said. “The fact that you can buy a house at 3% interest, and these kids are paying 6% or 9% — it’s actually gouging them.”

Sanchez touted college affordability proposals she’s supported, including one to nearly double the amount of Pell grants available and another that would allow students to refinance student debt at lower interest rates.

“Back in Washington, you’re dealing in the millions and the billions...so my colleagues, they don’t see that $30,000, that’s a big amount,” Sanchez told the group. “I’m a Head Start kid. Thirty-thousand dollars is a heck of a lot of money to me.”

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Bill requiring ‘tobacco-only’ stores for cigarette sales snuffed out in committee

Just weeks after Gov. Jerry Brown signed a package of anti-tobacco bills, including one raising the smoking age to 21, a coalition of retail stores defeated an attempt Tuesday to also limit cigarette sales to “tobacco-only” stores off-limits to minors.

Sen. Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) introduced the bill that would have banned the sale of tobacco products in supermarkets and other stores where minors are allowed to shop without adult supervision. The lawmaker said his proposal would protect minors from marketing efforts to get them to smoke so they can avoid the negative health effects of smoking.

The proposal had been approved by the state Senate, but on Tuesday ran into trouble in the Assembly Committee on Business and Professions, where it was opposed by the California Retailers Assn.

“While tobacco is a legal product in California, our members would like to continue to responsibly offer it for sale to age-appropriate consumers,” the association said in a recent statement.

On Tuesday, when the committee chair asked if any member wanted to move the bill, nobody spoke up. Without a motion and second, the bill died without a vote.

“It’s disappointing that Assembly support didn’t match public support to reduce the ubiquitous presence of tobacco retailers and thereby improve the health of Californians,” Wieckowski said..”

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Stricter sex assault punishment approved by Senate committee after outcry over Stanford case

Former Stanford student and athlete Brock Turner appears in a Palo Alto courtroom on Feb. 2, 2015.
Former Stanford student and athlete Brock Turner appears in a Palo Alto courtroom on Feb. 2, 2015.
(Karl Mondon / San Jose Mercury News via Associated Press)

Legislation to close what prosecutors call a loophole in California’s sex assault law, a provision that kept a former Stanford student out of prison after a brutal campus attack, cleared its first legislative hurdle in Sacramento on Tuesday.

“Simply put, rape is rape,” said Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), the bill’s author. “We believe there should be consistency in addressing this issue.”

Assembly Bill 2888 was quickly introduced in the wake of public outcry over the six-month jail sentence given to Brock Turner for the sexual attack on an unconscious woman after a campus party. Under existing law, Turner was eligible for a sentence that included probation instead of prison.

Santa Clara County Deputy Dist. Atty. Alaleh Kianerci, who prosecuted Turner, told state senators at Tuesday’s hearing that the trauma experienced by the victim was no less than that of any other rape victim.

The woman who was attacked has continued to remain anonymous, identified only in court documents as Emily Doe.

“We all need to try to protect the next Emily Doe,” said Kianerci.

Anyone convicted of eight specific sexual assault crimes would no longer be eligible for probation under AB 2888, with most of the crimes being ones that involve alcohol and any other “intoxicating or anesthetic substance.”

Several lawmakers said that the bill may be best seen as addressing the larger problem of how to punish sex crimes on college campuses.

“It’s about changing a culture and preventing future crimes,” said Assemblyman Bill Dodd (D-Napa), the bill’s co-author.

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U.S. Rep. Janice Hahn brings sit-in against gun violence home to L.A.

(Christine Mai-Duc / Los Angeles Times)

Days after participating in a sit-in on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Los Angeles) brought an event of her own to her South Los Angeles district.

The setting, the multi-purpose room of a high school, was far less ornate and the participants sat in chairs, Hahn noted. But, she added, the sentiment was the same.

“I’m sick of moments of silence. I’m sick of silence,” Hahn said. “Let’s not take ‘no’ for an answer. We’ve had too much gun violence in this country.”

The evening opened with a clip of Rep. John Lewis’ (D-Ga.) impassioned speech at the Washington sit-in, in which he called on House leaders to call a vote for two gun control measures.

Hahn spoke in front of a wall plastered with the photos of dozens of victims of gun violence, with their names, ages and the cities where they died inscribed beneath.

“I’m not going to be shut down on this issue. They can turn off our [microphones], they can turn off the cameras,” she said. “But I’m not going to be shut down.”

One after another, community members and constituents rose to speak tearfully about friends and family members they had lost to shootings.

A woman whose nephew had been shot multiple times in the back spoke, along with a mother who said she’s afraid for her gay son’s safety after the Orlando shooting. A man whose son was killed 24 years ago said he still cries every day for him.

“These types of guns don’t belong here,” said Basil Kimbrew, whose son was killed in 1992. “I’m a strong, black man but when it comes to my kid, I wobble, you know?”

He urged Hahn to “do what you have to do...please send a message to Speaker of the House.”

Two gun rights supporters also addressed the crowd, raising issues about restricting Syrian refugees and encroachment on 2nd Amendment rights. They were booed by the crowd before being allowed to continue.

“When you do a sit-in, you do it to get rights, not take rights away,” said one speaker, who called the congressional sit-in a “waste of time.”

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California voters will be asked this November to change the rules for passing bills in the Legislature

An initiative requiring any legislation be in print for three days before final passage at the Capitol earned a spot on the Nov. 8 statewide ballot on Monday, an effort supporters claim will end the long tradition of 11th hour political deals quickly turned into California law.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla reported that the initiative’s proponents, former Republican state Sen. Sam Blakeslee and influential GOP donor Charles Munger Jr., collected more than 644,000 voter signatures. This is the final week for fall ballot measures to qualify, and as many as 17 other measures are poised to earn a spot once the list is finalized on Thursday.

For more than three years, lawmakers have considered efforts to make bills subject to a 72-hour public review period. But each of those proposals failed, leading Blakeslee and Munger to file their initiative last November.

The initiative also imposes new rules on lawmakers to broadcast their proceedings online, and it eliminates long-standing restrictions on the use of legislative video and audio in political campaigns.

In the past few weeks, lawmakers have been scrambling to offer their own version of the proposal and perhaps convince Munger to drop his effort. But in a legislative hearing last week, Munger made it clear: He won’t do it.

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California budget signed by Gov. Jerry Brown

Gov. Jerry Brown approved a new state budget on Monday, signing into law a $171-billion spending plan that will take effect on July 1.

“This solid budget makes responsible investments in California and sets aside billions of dollars to prepare for the next recession,” he said in a statement.

Brown also signed several related measures, and he didn’t veto anything from the legislation, signaling an unusual level of agreement with lawmakers. In previous years, Brown has used his line-item veto power to make small changes to the budget, even if he agrees with the overall spending plan.

The budget will increase funding for state-subsidized child care and remove a limit on welfare payments for families who have additional children while receiving benefits.

It also boosts the state’s reserves, depositing an extra $2 billion into a rainy-day fund intended as a cushion against any future economic downturns.

“California is in stronger fiscal shape than we have been for years,” Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) said in a statement.

More work remains on state spending. The budget sets aside $400 million for affordable housing, but it won’t be spent unless the governor and lawmakers reach a deal on streamlining regulations for building new homes.

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Top lawmakers seal bipartisan deal on homeless bond

A $2-billion bond measure to help house homeless people suffering from mental illness appears poised for approval after an agreement was reached between Democratic and Republican leaders.

The modified legislation includes new requirements for overseeing how the money is spent, and the deal includes a separate bill that sets aside additional money for homeless veterans and youth.

“The millions in new funding championed by Republicans will help our homeless veterans and youth receive the shelter and support they need to get their lives back on track,” Assembly Republican leader Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley said in a statement.

The $10 million for veterans would come from a separate bond measure approved by lawmakers in 2014, and the $10 million for youth would come from an emergency housing fund.

Meanwhile, the $2-billion bond would use revenue raised through Proposition 63, a voter-approved tax on millionaires. Because the measure involves borrowing money, it requires a two-thirds vote in the Legislature.

“Republican and Democrats alike recognize that finding permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless suffering from mental illness will improve the quality of life in our communities and give hope to thousands of Californians currently living in despair across our state,” Democratic Senate leader Kevin de León of Los Angeles said in a statement.

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Travel problems for the Senate leader

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U.S. Senate candidate Loretta Sanchez misses House votes, gun control sit-in during week in Spain

U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez remained in Spain for a week after a trade mission this month, missing nine recorded votes and the Democrats’ dramatic attempt to force a vote on gun control through a sit-in.

Sanchez is running against state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Sanchez’s staff initially said that the Santa Ana Democrat missed the sit-in because she was returning from a trade mission to Ourense, a city in northwestern Spain.

While Sanchez participated in a trade mission this month, the trip ended June 17. The sit-in took place from midday Wednesday mid-day to midday Thursday.

When asked Monday, Sanchez’s spokeswoman said the congresswoman stayed in Spain after the trade mission and didn’t fly back until Thursday.

Spokeswoman Emily Morris said the congresswoman met with the commandant, the governor and the chief minister of Gibraltar ‎about commerce, Britain’s potential exit from the European Union and military issues during the intervening six days and took “a personal day.”

The trade mission, organized and paid for by the Advanced Leadership Foundation and the Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce, lasted from June 15-17.

According to the Advanced Leadership Foundation, the trip culminated with Sanchez giving a lunchtime speech at the monastery of Santo Estevo.

Sanchez is listed by the foundation as leading the trip, but Sanchez was recorded as casting votes on more than two dozen bills June 16 after the trade mission began. Morris said Sanchez flew to Spain after the votes.

Calls to the foundation for more information were not returned Monday.

During the six days she stayed in Spain after the trade mission ended, Sanchez missed nine recorded votes, according to the House Clerk, including votes Republicans held in the early morning hours Thursday to adjourn, effectively shutting down the Democrats’ sit-in. Representatives return July 5.

Sanchez was the only California House member not spotted during the sit-in. Many of the Golden State’s 39 House Democrats remained on the floor throughout the 25 hours of speeches about Americans killed by gun violence.

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) helped plan the sit-in, but had to miss the first part of the event to attend her brother’s cancer surgery. She caught a red-eye flight to Washington and joined Democrats on the House floor at about 7:45 a.m. Thursday.

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State senators block energy policy changes sought by Gov. Jerry Brown

(Robert Durell / For the Los Angeles Times)

Energy proposals stalled in a state Senate committee on Monday amid concerns that Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration was trying to push major policy changes without enough public scrutiny.

The proposals, inserted into budget legislation after negotiations with Senate leadership, would double financial incentives for energy storage projects and extend subsidies for fuel cell technology.

Although Republicans often complain about last-minute changes to legislation, the anger during the Senate budget committee hearing was bipartisan.

Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber), the vice chair of the committee, called the administration’s effort “government at its very worst.” Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), the committee’s chair, expressed his “disappointment.”

Administration officials at the hearing struggled to answer all the senators’ questions about the changes, saying they would need to summon additional staff to explain the policies.

“We’re here trying to figure out what’s in the bill right now,” Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) said. “We’re being asked to vote on this when we don’t know what the implications are.”

Amy Costa, the governor’s chief deputy director of finance, defended the proposals as expansions of existing, successful programs to support clean energy goals. She also said they represented an agreement reached between the Brown administration and Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles).

But senators said they would hold off voting on the measure.

“I’m not arguing the policy,” Leno said. “But I think it’s our job ... to better understand that policy.”

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Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers announce major reorganization of California’s energy regulating agency

San Onofre nuclear power plant
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers announced a broad overhaul of the state’s main energy regulator on Monday, a response to a scandal involving the agency’s decommissioning of a Southern California nuclear facility and criticism in its handling of new technologies including Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing companies.

The broad reform package includes a number of efforts to boost transparency and oversight at the California Public Utilities Commission, including more frequent online disclosure of communications between commissioners and those affected by their decisions.

The commission has been under intense scrutiny after its former president, Michael Peevey, had an undisclosed meeting in Poland with a Southern California Edison executive regarding the assigning of costs between the company and rate payers for the decommissioning of the shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant in northern San Diego County.

The reorganization announced Monday would also transfer regulation of the fast-growing ride-hailing industry from the CPUC to the California State Transportation Agency. Many, including CPUC executives, have said that the existing structure for regulating Uber and Lyft is outdated and lacking expertise needed to protect consumers and drivers while also allowing for the companies’ growth.

“These reforms will change how this commission does business,” Brown said in a written statement. “Public access to meetings and records will be expanded, new safety and oversight positions will be created and ex parte communication rules will be strengthened.”

The deal comes after Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Glendale) had pushed for a constitutional amendment to reorganize the CPUC. Gatto was part of negotiations on the reform package and praised the effort.

“These reforms mark a new beginning for the CPUC,” Gatto said in a written statement. “The commission will become transparent and accountable to Californians and focused on the safety of our communities.”

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Lawmakers add the needs of veterans, youth homeless to state budget plan

Lawmakers have added earmarks for helping veterans and youth who are on California’s streets to a high-profile effort expected to become part of the new state budget by the end of the week.

Legislation quietly introduced Thursday would modify and expand an effort that began with a $2-billion bond package to help those who are homeless and suffer from mental illness.

The bond proposal, first introduced by Senate Democrats in January, was modified to include new requirements including online disclosure of how bond proceeds are spent and performance reviews of county agencies that administer the programs.

In a written statement, Assembly GOP leader Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley) said on Saturday that his caucus “fought to create more oversight and accountability in how funds to serve the state’s mentally ill population are spent.”

Democratic legislative leaders didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The bills are scheduled to be heard by the Senate Budget Committee on Monday morning.

Another newly negotiated plan will, if signed into law, earmark $10 million to help homeless youth and another $10 million from a 2014 veterans bond to focus on ex-servicemembers who are homeless.

The $2-billion bond proposal was embraced by Gov. Jerry Brown in his revised budget last month but was one of the unfinished parts of the budget sent to Brown on June 15. It requires a bipartisan supermajority vote in both houses of the Legislature, which legislative and lobbyist sources said required additional negotiations over the last several days.

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Friday statewide vote count tops 8 million from the June 7 primary

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A $500-million climate-change plan without any money behind it

Industry leaders and environmental activists made their way to the California Air Resources Board on Thursday to advocate for money for programs to combat climate change.

The board agreed, signing off on a $500 million plan to fund clean-car subsidies and numerous other programs.

But the board’s approval won’t actually result in any cash getting spent. Advocates are waiting on Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers to reach a deal to send the money to the board, something they hope will happen by the end of the legislative session in August.

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Brady Campaign gun-safety group endorses Kamala Harris for Senate

Citing her experience with gun laws, one of the largest gun safety advocacy groups in the nation has endorsed state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris in the Senate race in California.

“In Kamala Harris, Californians have found the only Senate candidate they can trust to stand up to the corporate gun lobby and disarm the hate that kills thousands of Americans every year,” Dan Gross, the president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a statement. “We know she’ll walk the walk, she’s done it her entire career. As attorney general, Harris worked alongside the Brady Campaign’s 27 California chapters to spearhead a record-setting program to get and keep guns out of dangerous hands, no doubt saving lives.”

In the November election, California voters will choose between two Democrats to replace retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer — Harris and Rep. Loretta Sanchez.

Harris said in a statement that she is honored to have the endorsement.

In October, Harris slammed Congress for failing to pass new gun restrictions after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

The Brady Campaign also praised Harris for a state Department of Justice program to determine whether potentially dangerous people own guns in violation of state law.

California’s auditor dinged the program last summer for delays that pose a “continued risk to public safety.”

The Brady Campaign was supportive of Harris throughout the primary election, including criticizing Sanchez for an April 22 op-ed article in the Sacramento Bee in which she defended her 2005 vote for the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.

Sanchez broke with most House Democrats to vote for the act, which protects gun manufacturers and dealers from being held liable if their product is used to commit a crime.

“While her opponent may feel the gun industry, whose products kill 90 Americans every day, deserves a free pass in the form of special legal protections — Kamala Harris doesn’t,” Gross said in the statement.

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Assembly resolution asks Gov. Jerry Brown for a homeless state of emergency

Lawmakers from Los Angeles and San Francisco took the unusual step Wednesday of introducing a resolution asking Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a statewide emergency to help California’s homeless population.

“Homelessness has risen to historic levels across the state and now is the time for action,” says House Resolution 56, authored by Assemblymen Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) and Phil Ting (D-San Francisco).

An emergency declaration would increase state money and staff time to the cause. Supervisors in both counties have passed their own resolutions calling on Brown to act.

“The Legislature wants to tackle this issue,” Santiago said. “We want to keep it on the front burner.”

California had roughly 115,700 people living on the streets in 2015, the most of any state in the nation. Some 47,000 of those are believed to be in Los Angeles.

“You see people of all ages and all walks of life,” he said. “This is a public health crisis, and we want to get some attention on this.”

Los Angeles supervisors have also sought a local income tax on millionaires to fund homeless prevention programs. Brown has rejected both the tax and a statewide emergency declaration.

In letters and visits to Sacramento, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas has invited the governor to see the problem for himself. On Monday, the county delivered a petition with nearly 11,400 signatures from citizens in favor of an emergency declaration.

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Minimum wage ballot measure formally removed from November’s statewide ballot

The healthcare workers union that successfully placed a minimum wage increase on the November statewide ballot formally withdrew the proposal Thursday, two months after Gov. Jerry Brown signed a similar plan into law.

“We think the law that was passed is a really good law,” said Steve Trossman, a spokesman for the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers and one of the initiative’s official proponents.

Days after the SEIU-UHW measure qualified for the ballot in March, Brown and lawmakers announced their own deal on a plan to boost the statewide minimum wage to $15 an hour. That law will gradually raise low-wage paychecks over the next five years.

Trossman believes the union’s success at gathering signatures on its own proposal sparked lawmakers to take action.

“We’re really proud of the role that we played in pushing that ball across the goal line,” he said Thursday.

The union’s minimum wage initiative is the first measure to be withdrawn under a 2014 state law that allows proponents a last-minute reprieve in hopes of inspiring more negotiations and fewer costly ballot measure campaigns. Even so, the fall ballot is expected to include more propositions than any California election in more than 15 years.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla officially will certify the final list of Nov. 8 ballot measures next week.

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Sacramento judge moves to cancel a November ballot initiative limiting salaries of hospital CEOs

(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

An effort to cap the salaries of hospital executives may be blocked from California’s Nov. 8 ballot, after a Sacramento judge wrote Thursday that its labor union backers broke a political peace treaty with hospitals.

If upheld, Sacramento Superior Court Judge David Brown’s ruling would force Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West to withdraw an initiative that would limit executive compensation at nonprofit hospitals to $450,000 a year.

SEIU-UHW turned in almost 650,000 voter signatures on the measure last month, and it’s likely to qualify for the ballot next week.

“Unfortunately, the voters of California may be denied their ability to decide whether someone running a charity can make $5 million or $10 million a year,” said SEIU-UHW spokesman Steve Trossman.

The case involved a complex 2014 agreement between the healthcare workers union and the California Hospitals Assn., one that avoided a similar ballot fight and attempted to bring the two rivals together on issues related to hospital staffing and funds for the state’s Medi-Cal program.

But an arbitrator’s report on June 6 said the formal contract includes a provision that SEIU-UHW wouldn’t file any ballot initiatives “adverse” to the hospitals. The arbitrator concluded the agreement had been broken and that the union would have to cancel its 2016 initiative effort.

Trossman said that SEIU-UHW still believes its employees who filed the initiative did so as California voters and thus did not constitute a contract breach by the union.

“The organization, UHW, doesn’t control this initiative,” he said.

Even so, Trossman said the union will decide next week whether to appeal the judge’s ruling or allow the initiative to be scrapped.

A spokeswoman for the California Hospitals Assn. said the organization wouldn’t comment until the judge’s ruling was made final Friday.

The ruling coincidentally came on the same day that SEIU-UHW formally withdrew a different initiative -- on the minimum wage -- from the November ballot.

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Lt. Gov. Newsom’s gun control initiative qualifies for the November ballot

Just days before the Legislature is scheduled to act on a package of gun control measures, state election officials announced Thursday that an initiative by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom to restrict firearms has enough signatures to qualify for the November state ballot.

The Secretary of State’s Office said a verification process using a random sample estimated that at least 402,468 of the 600,000 signatures turned in were valid and from registered voters, so the Safety for All Act has officially qualified to be on the ballot.

“Enough massacres, death, tears, and hate – it’s time to take action and save lives,” Newsom said in a statement Thursday. “The Safety for All initiative gives California voters the opportunity to keep guns and ammo out of the hands of violent, dangerous, hateful people. America has too many guns and too much hate. The result is the massacre in Orlando, and dozens of other gun deaths every single day.”

Opponents , including Chuck Michel, co-chair for the Coalition for Civil Liberties, plan to campaign against the initiative.

“Californians believe in more civil liberties, not fewer freedoms,” Michel said. “Gavin Newsom’s political maneuver will be defeated because it does nothing to stop the next ISIS-inspired attack.”

The initiative would require background checks for bullet buyers, a ban on possessing ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds, a mandate for felony charges for gun thefts and a strict process for getting guns out of the hands of felons and others disqualified from possessing firearms.

Many similar proposals are included in legislation proposed by lawmakers who hoped to avoid having the issue go to the voters.

State law allows initiative proponents to drop their proposals if they are satisfied that the same goals are accomplished by legislation.

Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) said Thursday that Newsom should drop his initiative if the bills are approved next week.

“If we pass the bills, there is no need to confuse the voters with an initiative,” Hill said.

But Newsom, who is a candidate for governor in 2018, said that his initiative goes further and that he has no plans to sideline the measure, even if some bills are signed into law.

“The initiative makes reforms the Legislature has failed to enact, as well as others the Legislature isn’t even considering, and others that they simply don’t have the authority to legally address,” Newsom wrote recently to Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles).

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Republican in heavily Latino district says he can’t back Donald Trump

U.S. Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) said Thursday he can’t support presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Valadao has avoided talking about the presidential race for months, saying he would support the eventual nominee.

But in a statement released by his campaign Thursday, Valadao said he can’t support Trump and he won’t back presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton either.

Valadao’s district is 71% Latino.

“I am disappointed with the divisive rhetoric coming from this Presidential Election and cannot support either candidate. I cannot back a candidate who denigrates people based on their ethnicity, religion, or disabilities,” he said.

Democrats have targeted Valadao’s Central Valley district as a potential pick-up opportunity in the fall.

Provisional and vote-by-mail ballots are still being counted in Fresno, Kern, Kings and Tulare counties, and it isn’t yet clear whether Valadao will face Emilio Jesus Huerta or Daniel Parra in the fall. As of Thursday morning, Huerta led by 1,099 votes.

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Senators take the push-up challenge in Sacramento

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Ro Khanna maintains lead against congressman in Silicon Valley battle

Nearly all ballots have been counted in the Democratic slugfest in Congressional District 17, where repeat challenger Ro Khanna looks to have bested incumbent Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose).

The latest count shows Khanna leading Honda 39.1% to Honda’s 37.4%. Final results in Alameda County show Honda down by more than four points. In Santa Clara County, where nearly three-quarters of the district’s voters live, the race is much closer. Officials say they have eight ballots outstanding, and Khanna is ahead by 777 votes.

Thanks to California’s top-two primary, both will advance to November.

The results could signal trouble ahead for the eight-term congressman, who defeated Khanna by just four points in 2014 and is facing an ongoing ethics investigation.

Khanna campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan said the latest results were a “death knell” for Honda’s chances in November, adding that he “simply does not have a path to victory.”

“He lost Democrats. He lost in Santa Clara County and Alameda County. He lost election day voters and absentee ballot voters,” Sevugan said in a statement.

Sevugan noted that the only other Democratic incumbent in Congress to lose in the primary was Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), who resigned Thursday after being convicted of racketeering and money laundering.

Honda’s campaign spokesman Vedant Patel said they expect Honda’s support to grow in November.

“There’s no question this race is going to be close, but Congressman Honda has strong support among middle-class families who trust his track record of delivering for Silicon Valley,” Patel said.

Patel criticized Khanna for receiving support from what he said were “Wall Street interests and individuals pushing anti-worker agendas.”

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Jerry Brown responds to U.S. Supreme Court’s immigration decision

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Coastal Commission gets an emergency loan and an audit of its fiscal management

Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget advisors have approved an emergency loan of $1.45 million to the California Coastal Commission after an agency staffer said it was in danger of not making payroll in July.

A letter sent to legislative leaders this week by Brown said this is the second consecutive year of a cash crisis for the commission, prompting a formal audit of its money management.

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Assembly approves $3.1-billion park bond measure for November ballot

The Assembly on Thursday gave initial approval to putting a $3.1-billion bond measure on the November ballot for parks, water and climate change action.

The proposal, which next goes to the state Senate for consideration, addresses concerns that California’s parks have not been properly maintained.

Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) noted that it has been 14 years since the state approved substantial new funding for park maintenance and improvements.

“We know that state parks have a deferred maintenance backlog of over $1 billion,” Garcia told his colleagues.

The measure was approved on a 55-14 bipartisan vote. Assemblywoman Catherine Baker (R-San Ramon) said operators of local parks in her district would welcome the ability to compete for matching funds.

However, the measure was opposed by Brian Jones (R-Santee), who said the state could fund the parks improvements from the current budget without borrowing and there are other bonds available for water and land conservation.

“We don’t have to go into additional debt for those programs,” Jones told his colleagues. “The money is there.”

At the last minute, Garcia amended the bill to increase the bond from $2.95 billion to $3.12 billion and to increase the amount going to disadvantaged communities from 10% to 20%.

As he worked to win support, Garcia also agreed to amend his bill to earmark tens of millions of dollars to specific park programs including those in San Diego, Ventura County, Central Valley and the High Desert/Coachella area.

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At the House Democrats’ gun sit-in, a shouting match broke out and lawmakers had to be separated

Rep. Brad Sherman was dramatically interrupted during his plea for a vote on gun legislation at the House Democrats’ sit-in Wednesday night. As Sherman spoke, Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert stormed onto the floor, screaming that “radical Islam” killed the Orlando mass shooting victims.

A group of at least 50 Democrats had been staging a sit-in on the House floor for nearly 12 hours to try to force a vote on gun legislation before the House adjourned for the Fourth of July holiday.

Emotions were already running high when Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) began speaking. The chamber had just finished up several votes called by Republicans as Democrats continued to yell and demand a gun vote. Democrats took control again after the House went back into recess, but a handful of Republicans hung around and heckled Democrats as they spoke.

During Gohmert’s outburst, he pointed at a poster of victims of the Orlando shooting being held by Rep. Corrine Brown, the Democrat who represents the part of Orlando where the shooting took place.

Gohmert and Brown got into a heated conversation and had to be physically separated by colleagues.

Sherman said a few more words and was replaced by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), who tried to defuse the tension in the room.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) also came into the chamber and had a quiet word with the remaining Republicans.

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Clinton’s California lead over Sanders remains similar to Tuesday’s count

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Los Angeles County supervisor invites Gov. Jerry Brown to come see the homeless problem for himself

(Spencer Weiner/Los Angeles Times)

A leading voice on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on the rising tide of homelessness says Gov. Jerry Brown should see what’s going on for himself.

“I’d like to invite him down to Los Angeles,” said Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas in an interview while visiting Sacramento on Wednesday.

County leaders have been pushing for help from the state government for some 47,000 people living on Los Angeles streets. Their main effort, a request for Brown and lawmakers to allow Los Angeles County voters to impose a local income tax on the most wealthy taxpayers, has largely fallen flat in recent weeks.

Ridley-Thomas and others have since asked the governor to declare a state of emergency, which also has not met with much success.

The supervisor, who said that he’s made a weekly trip to lobby Sacramento lawmakers for the last month, said he wants Brown “to experience the intensity of the public health and the public safety crisis” the homelessness epidemic has created.

“There is no way that you can see it and not be shaken by it,” he said.

Evan Westrup, a spokesman for Brown, said Thursday that the governor’s experiences as mayor of Oakland and a volunteer with Mother Teresa mean that he “doesn’t need a tour from a politician to understand or appreciate the impacts.”

“These are concerns many Californians share and it’s why the administration is directing billions of dollars to affordable housing, mental health and anti-poverty programs and will continue to support local governments as they tailor solutions to the needs of their communities,” said Westrup.

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Watch live as House Democrats hold sit-in over gun control vote

Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego) has live-streamed the House Democrats’ gun-control sit-in on Periscope for more than nine hours. C-SPAN aired his footage, as its cameras were turned off when House majority leaders took a recess.

Peters told the Guardian that he’s never used the app before.

“I downloaded it on the House floor, and turned it on,” he said.

By evening, after more than nine hours, House Republicans returned to the chamber and began attempting to end the sit-in by holding votes on unrelated issues. Democrats continued to push for a vote on the gun legislation, chanting, “Give us a vote!”

That didn’t stop the House from recessing and shutting down the cameras -- again.

Democrats carried on with their sit-in.

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Measure to open up police misconduct records could go before voters in 2018

State Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco)
State Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco)
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

The author of failed legislation to open up some police misconduct records to public disclosure said he might force the issue on the statewide ballot in 2018.

The bill from state Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) died in a Senate committee last month amid strong lobbying from law enforcement groups. Leno, who will be forced from office later this year due to term limits, told KQED News that he’s considering the ballot box as an alternative.

“It’s quite possible it cannot be done legislatively, that the power of the law enforcement lobby is so intense that it’s not going to move successfully through the Legislature,” Leno told the public radio station. “The only way we may have to change these secrecy laws would be to go to the ballot.”

Leno’s bill failed weeks before a major internal sexual misconduct scandal enveloped the Oakland Police Department and city officials have been unable to make significant information about the case public.

Twenty-three states keep most public employee personnel records confidential, but California is one of just three to provide specific protections for police information.

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Two California House Democrats miss gun control sit-in

Two California House Democrats were not in Washington on Wednesday and didn’t make an appearance on the House floor during the Democrats’ sit-in to protest a lack of action on gun control, but Reps. Jackie Speier and Loretta Sanchez said they plan to participate Thursday if it’s still going on.

The other 37 of California’s 39 House Democrats participated in the sit-in, some sitting for hours on the House floor with dozens of their colleagues who held control of the chamber to demand a vote on gun legislation before they leave at the end of the week. Sen. Barbara Boxer and several other senators made appearances as well.

Sanchez of Orange was returning from a trade trip abroad and will be back in Washington on Thursday, her staff said.

Speier of Hillsborough was among the House members who cloistered away to plan what Democrats could do to force a vote, her staff said. But she needed to be at the hospital Wednesday for her brother’s cancer surgery, she said in a Facebook post.

As a congressional aide in 1978, Speier was shot five times while on a congressional fact-finding mission to investigate the People’s Temple in Jonestown, Guyana.

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Lawmakers’ trip to Panama coincides with busy legislative week before summer recess

One week before the Legislature leaves town for a monthlong break, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and a few of his Democratic colleagues are squeezing in a quick trip to Panama.

Rendon, a Democrat from Paramount, is heading south to mark the recent widening of the Panama Canal, an expansion that will double its capacity and allow for bigger ships to pass through.

He will be joined by former Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and Assemblymen Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond) and Jose Medina (D-Riverside). The trip was first reported by the Sacramento Bee.

“Given California’s longstanding trade ties with Panama, the trip enables California legislators to maintain relationships with Panamanian policymakers and businesses and to explore options for collaboration on trade and other matters of mutual benefit,” said Kevin Liao, a spokesman for Rendon.

The delegation will be in Panama from Saturday through Tuesday, attending an opening ceremony for the expanded canal on Sunday. The visit coincides with the final days of legislative work before lawmakers leave on recess for the month of July.

It could be a busy week. Senate leader Kevin De León has said he wants a sweeping package of gun control bills — now pending in the Assembly — to pass by the end of June.

Other major policy efforts loom, including a $2-billion plan to build housing for California’s homeless population and several loose ends remaining in the budget. Those issues can be taken up when the Legislature reconvenes in August if they are not resolved next week.

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Former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan picks his candidate in California’s U.S. Senate race

Former Mayor Richard Riordan speaks to parents, students and teachers at his home in Los Angeles in 2011.
(Bret Hartman / For the Times)

Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, a political maverick who has never been shy about bucking his Republican Party, on Wednesday endorsed Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez for U.S. Senate.

Riordan said he has known the Orange County congresswoman for years and that Sanchez is “tough and not afraid to take a stand on important issues.”

Riordan praised Sanchez’s ability to work across the aisle in Congress during her 20 years in office and her record as a fiscal moderate.

In the November election, California voters must choose between two Democrats to replace Barbara Boxer in the U.S. Senate — Sanchez and state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris. Boxer, a Democrat, is retiring after four terms.

The former mayor criticized Harris for being too far to the left politically.

Riordan cited a case in 2008, while Harris served as San Francisco district attorney, when a recently convicted cocaine dealer, Alexander Izaguirre, avoided prison after being accepted into Harris’ “Back on Track” jobs program. Izaguirre, an immigrant, was in the U.S. illegally. He later stole a woman’s purse and then drove into her with an SUV.

“I think she’s a crazy liberal. Not a true liberal,” Riordan said of Harris.

Harris has the backing of the California Democratic Party and Gov. Jerry Brown, and Sanchez has been endorsed by 16 members of California’s congressional delegation.

Riordan was elected mayor of Los Angeles in 1993 and during his two terms was credited with restoring the city after the Los Angeles riots and the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Riordan often has rankled his fellow Republicans with his independent, unpredictable politics. He endorsed Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein in her successful 1994 bid for reelection.

He also endorsed then-Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama in 2008, criticizing GOP presidential nominee John McCain’s past support for financial deregulation.

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California lawmakers criticize Congress for inaction on gun control

Danielle Irigoyen brings flowers to a memorial for the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla.
Danielle Irigoyen brings flowers to a memorial for the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Leaders of the Legislature on Wednesday chided Congress for inaction on gun control in the wake of a series of mass shootings including this month’s terrorist attack on an Orlando, Fla., nightclub that killed 49 people.

At a rally on the Capitol steps, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin De León (D-Los Angeles) and others contrasted Congress with the Legislature, saying state lawmakers hope to send Gov. Jerry Brown a package of more than a dozen gun-control bills by the end of this month.

“We all know that Congress may not have the courage to do something about it, but we do,” De León told the crowd of 100 activists from the Moms Demand Action/Everytown for Gun Safety coalition. “We will act with the appropriate level of urgency in response to the scourge of gun violence on our streets, in our schools, our places of worship and other gathering places.”

Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) cited votes by both chambers of the Legislature to approve several gun-control bills.

“It’s not every day that people like you or me are able to beat back the NRA and get our bills through. This is really historic,” Santiago said. “Congress was not able to do it, and we are doing it here in California.”

Lawmakers including Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D- Los Angeles) touted a bill that would close a loophole that allows gun owners to loan their weapons to others for 30 days without background checks.

“As the violence in Orlando has once again reminded us, it’s past time for action,” said Rendon, who noted that five of his relatives have been shot, including three who were killed by guns. “None of us are immune from the tragedy that guns deliver every day in communities throughout our state.”

Before the rally, De Leon and Rendon met with Gov. Jerry Brown on the gun bills in a session one source described as “productive” but Brown has not made any commitments.

The pledge of action by six legislators was lauded at the rally by Jen Reidy, a volunteer for the coalition. “The shooting in Orlando showed us how urgent it is to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people,” Reidy told the crowd.

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In response to Stanford case, state Democrats propose mandatory prison sentences for rape convictions

In response to the high-profile case of a Stanford student sentenced to six months in jail after his rape conviction, state Democratic lawmakers are introducing two competing bills to mandate prison sentences in such cases.

“We need to send the message that sexually assaulting vulnerable victims who are intoxicated or unconscious is a serious crime,” said Assemblyman Bill Dodd (D-Napa). “Letting a rapist off with probation and little jail time re-victimizes the victim, dissuades other victims from coming forward and sends the message that sexual assault is no big deal.”

Dodd is one of a trio of Northern California legislators behind one bill along with Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) and Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell). The bill would prohibit probation or suspended sentences in cases where the victim was unconscious or too intoxicated to give consent.

Also Wednesday, Assemblywoman Nora Campos (D-San Jose) said she planned to sponsor her own mandatory prison legislation for rape convictions involving unconscious victims.

“It is time that victims receive justice and that their rapists are not just given a slap on the wrist,” Campos said in a statement. “Victims deserve better, our justice system can do better.”

Since Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky handed down his sentence earlier this month, Sacramento lawmakers have gotten behind multiple efforts to respond to the case. The California Legislative Women’s Caucus, for instance, has announced it would fundraise to assist an attempt to recall Persky.

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California Democrats are part of the House of Representatives sit-in on gun legislation

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Legislators push a potential showdown on the November ballot over transparency at the state Capitol

Democrats in the Legislature continued their effort Wednesday to force a November ballot showdown over how lawmakers pass bills and how the public sees their proceedings.

The fight centers on an effort requiring all legislation to be in print for at least 72 hours before a final vote. Several years of failure on similar proposals in Sacramento sparked an effort by an influential Republican donor to launch a Nov. 8 ballot initiative campaign.

Now, even though lawmakers are trying to rush in with a solution themselves, the GOP heavyweights aren’t backing down.

The legislative effort, SCA 14 by state Sen. Lois Wolk (D-Davis), moved forward on Wednesday. It was the second straight day of Assembly hearings on the proposed constitutional amendment, which passed the Senate last week on a bipartisan vote.

And back, again, to oppose the bill was one of the authors of the initiative effort, GOP donor Charles Munger Jr.

“We believe there are flaws in his [measure],” Wolk said of the Munger proposal. “We have corrected them.”

Both efforts would require more public review of bills that otherwise might quickly be amended and approved, and both would impose new rules on the broadcast and recording of legislative hearings. And both would have to go on the fall statewide ballot.

SCA 4 has been amended in recent days in an effort to address some of the concerns, but most of the debate this week has focused on how to pay for the additional legislative broadcast and recording rules.

Munger’s plan would require the money to come from the Legislature’s budget; the legislative version would permit using the state’s general fund.

But the overarching question is whether a legislative effort would persuade the initiative’s backers to step aside. And the answer appears to be pretty firm.

“I will not withdraw,” said Munger during a long and tense hearing before the Assembly Rules Committee on Tuesday.

More than 1 million signatures were collected by Munger and former Republican state Sen. Sam Blakeslee on their initiative. It’s expected to qualify for a spot on the very long November ballot within a matter of days.

Munger’s comments seem to make clear that if lawmakers succeed in placing their proposal on the ballot, voters would have to choose between two similar efforts that both promise new transparency under the Capitol dome.

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Faith-based colleges say anti-discrimination bill would infringe on their religious freedom

State Sen. Ricardo Lara has proposed a bill narrowing the number of exemptions religious universities would receive to anti-discrimination laws, drawing concern from dozens of colleges in California.
State Sen. Ricardo Lara has proposed a bill narrowing the number of exemptions religious universities would receive to anti-discrimination laws, drawing concern from dozens of colleges in California.
(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

Dozens of faith-based colleges in California are objecting to legislation they say would infringe on religious freedom by allowing lawsuits from gay and transgender students who feel discriminated against because their sexual orientation conflicts with church tenets.

The dispute is a new slant on a debate that is roiling other parts of the country where states have sought to adopt so-called “religious freedom” laws, which allow businesses to decline service to same-sex couples if such service would violate their religious beliefs, or restrict the use of restrooms by transgender residents to facilities designated for the gender of their birth.

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Two weeks after California’s primary, Clinton’s lead over Sanders narrows slightly while many ballots remain

California election officials continued to count ballots on Tuesday, with the latest tally showing a slight narrowing in the Democratic presidential race and most of the uncounted votes cast as provisional ballots.

In all, more than 7.8 million ballots have been counted from the statewide primary that’s now two weeks in the rear-view mirror. A report published late Tuesday by Secretary of State Alex Padilla showed more than 784,000 ballots still had to be reviewed.

Tuesday’s vote count showed a slight narrowing of the lead for Hillary Clinton over Sen. Bernie Sanders. One week ago, Clinton was besting Sanders by 476,271 votes. As of Tuesday afternoon, that lead had shrunk by more than 29,000 votes to 446,987 votes.

Even so, Clinton’s statewide lead is more than 9 percentage points. Most of California’s Democratic delegates are awarded proportionally based on the vote totals in the state’s 53 congressional districts.

Eleven of California’s 58 counties have fully completed their vote tally.

Los Angeles County still has the largest single share of unprocessed ballots, and almost two-thirds of the state’s uncounted ballots as of Tuesday were cast provisionally -- when election officials couldn’t immediately confirm a voter’s registration details on election day.

Should all the outstanding ballots be deemed valid, statewide voter turnout on June 7 would be slightly above 48% of those registered. That would make the election California’s third-highest primary for turnout in the last two decades, behind the presidential primaries of 2008 and 2000.

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Bill requiring VA study of female veterans’ suicide prevention programs heads to President Obama

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will have to look at whether its suicide prevention programs are meeting female veterans’ needs under a California-led bill that passed the House on Tuesday afternoon.

The House OKd the Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) by a voice vote. The measure had already passed the Senate and now heads to President Obama.

The VA already has to review its suicide prevention and mental health programs annually under the Clay Hunt SAV Act. The Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act requires the VA to produce separate data and statistics on female veterans.

“The current rate of suicide among women veterans is heartbreaking and unacceptable,” Boxer said in a statement.

Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village) sponsored the House version of the bill after learning that the rate of suicide among female veterans increased by 40% between 2000 and 2010.

“The Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act will lead to a better understanding of the factors that contribute to the alarmingly high suicide rates among women veterans so that we can design more effective suicide prevention programs,” Brownley said in a statement.

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San Bernardino County could soon reclaim control of Ontario International Airport

Los Angeles and Ontario battled for years over ownership of LA/Ontario International Airport.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

San Bernardino County and the city of Ontario could reclaim control of Ontario International Airport under legislation that passed the House by a voice vote Tuesday afternoon.

The legislation, H.R. 4369, allows some of the $2-per-passenger facility charge collected at the Ontario airport to be used at Los Angeles International Airport.

A stipulation of Los Angeles World Airports’ agreement to transfer Ontario International Airport to San Bernardino County and the city of Ontario last August was that the Ontario airport would reimburse LAX for millions in fees used to pay for new terminals in the 1990s. When both airports were owned by Los Angeles World Airports, the fees could be used that way.

The settlement agreement calls for $120 million in passenger facility charges collected at Ontario to go to LAX over the next 10 years. However, that isn’t allowed under current law.

The bill is just another step for the Inland Empire as it faces the substantial challenge of reviving the struggling facility that has lost more than a third of its passengers since 2007.

The bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona), called the bill one of his highest priorities.

“Today is a great day for the Inland Empire and the future of air travel for our region,” he said in a statement.

The California members who sponsored the bill said local control of the airport is better for the community.

“Ontario International Airport is a major economic engine for our region in both trade and tourism, and giving local authorities control of the airport better allows them to meet the growing demand in San Bernardino County,” Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) said.

Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside) said in a statement that millions of passengers travel to LAX or other regional airports, and the local community is missing out on that money.

“As the Inland Empire continues to grow in population, the Ontario International Airport can be a vital economic resource to our region with the potential to serve 30 million passengers annually,” he said.

California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer have filed similar legislation in the Senate.

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The fight within the California Democratic Party over Uber and Lyft

The intense debate within California’s Democratic Party over Uber and Lyft was laid bare Tuesday morning when a bill that would ease regulations for ride-hailing companies from Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) advanced out a state Senate committee over the intense objection from committee Chairman Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego).

Low’s bill would exempt ride-hailing drivers from having to purchase commercial license plates, a savings of up to $80 a year per driver depending on car size. He argued that Uber drivers pick up customers in the same car that they pick up their kids from school and shouldn’t have to pay the fee.

But Hueso saw the bill as just another attempt in the Legislature at undermining the taxi industry to pump up Uber and Lyft.

“You’re looking to give them an economic advantage in an environment where they have every single advantage given to them,” Hueso said.

He then ripped into Low for not exempting taxis from the same requirement and questioned why the state should forgo as much as $5 million in lost revenue from Uber and Lyft drivers.

“Why is it important, in your mind, that people engaged in commercial activity not have to pay a commercial fee?” Hueso asked.

This confrontation has been a long time coming. Low’s bill sailed through the Assembly last year with little opposition, but Hueso didn’t hold a hearing on it, preventing it from moving forward. Hueso is considered ride-hailing companies’ biggest opponent at the Capitol.

He also has worked in his family’s taxi business, and his brothers now own the largest cab company in San Diego. The Times and others have written extensively about Hueso’s taxi connections, and during the hearing, Hueso accused the ride-hailing industry of feeding the media stories.

The commercial license plate issue in particular has family ties. The company owned by Hueso’s brothers sued the state last year trying to force the Department of Motor Vehicles to require commercial plates for ride-hailing drivers. The case since has been dismissed.

Last week during a Senate floor debate on bills tied to the state budget, Hueso criticized Gov. Jerry Brown for supporting an exemption to ride-hailing drivers’ getting commercial plates.

“There isn’t a bill in support of [Uber and Lyft] that this governor won’t sign,” Hueso said during Tuesday’s hearing. “And there isn’t a bill that this Legislature won’t support.”

Aside from Hueso, two other Democrats, Sen. Fran Pavley of Agoura Hills and Sen. Connie Leyva of Chino, voted against the bill at the hearing.

Ride-hailing companies have had significant success in recent years in Sacramento because younger and Silicon Valley-area Democrats such as Low have aligned with the companies.

UPDATE 3:54 p.m.: This story has been updated to correctly identify Sen. Connie Leyva’s district.

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As ballots are counted, Hillary Clinton’s California lead shrinks

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Victims of Manson followers urge Gov. Jerry Brown to reject parole

The sister of Sharon Tate, the actress murdered by followers of Charles Manson during a brutal two-day rampage across Los Angeles in 1969, left Gov. Jerry Brown with copies of an online petition Monday signed by some 139,000 people.

The petition’s message is simple: Brown should deny parole to a former member of the Manson cult, Leslie Van Houten.

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Why is the military doing medical training on live animals? California lawmakers are asking.

Reps. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) and Joe Heck (R-Nevada) and nearly 70 bipartisan members of the U.S. House want to know how the military plans to stop using live animals in medical combat-trauma training.

The Department of Defense began scaling back the use of pigs, goats, monkeys, chickens and other animals as part of its medical training in 2015. A letter from Speier and Heck, signed by the others, points to recent research by the Department of Defense that using simulated human tissue rather than live animals is cheaper and provides better training.

“The Department of Defense has the responsibility to provide the best available combat preparation to its medics. But according to its own studies, simulations are more effective than maiming and killing animals for medical training,” Speier said in a news release. “This is a no-brainer and we expect there will be no further delays in ending this barbaric practice.”

Eighteen California House members joined Speier, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. Among them: House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) and several members on the influential Appropriations and Armed Services Committees.

The members are asking for specifics on the cost of using live animals versus using simulation-based teaching models, how many animals each military branch used for combat training in fiscal 2015, what regulations or policies still require the use of live tissue in training and what the department is doing to stop using live animals.

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Villaraigosa says a decision on the 2018 governor’s race is coming in November

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa continued to stoke will-he-or-won’t-he speculation on running for governor of California in 2018, telling Fusion’s Jorge Ramos that he’d announce his decision after the presidential election in November.

“I think I’ve made it pretty clear what I want to do,” Villaraigosa said in the interview, conducted last week. “I’m going to work as hard as I can to stop [presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald] Trump, to get Hillary Clinton elected. And then in November I’m going to make an announcement about my future.”

Villaraigosa also said he wasn’t interested in the vice presidential spot on Clinton’s ticket.

Should Villaraigosa run, he’d be the third high-profile Democrat in the race alongside Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and State Treasurer John Chiang. Check out our list of potential candidates here.

The full Villaraigosa interview is below.

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California’s top electricity regulator is lukewarm on measure to strip agency’s power

California Public Utilities Commission President Michael Picker.
(Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

The head of the state agency in charge of regulating myriad utilities, including electricity and ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft, lamented what he called an outdated system for protecting residents and ratepayers in a speech to the Sacramento Press Club on Monday.

But Michael Picker, who leads the California Public Utilities Commission, stopped short of endorsing a measure pending in the Legislature that would strip the agency of its power.

Picker said the agency’s structure, formed a century ago to regulate railroads, makes it difficult to adapt to technologies that are transforming electricity and other industries at a rapid pace.

“Particularly when they are so new, so innovative and changing so rapidly that nobody at the PUC understands them,” Picker told the press club.

But he was lukewarm on a constitutional amendment proposed by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Glendale) that would dismantle the PUC and shift its responsibilities to other state agencies.

Lawmakers, Picker said, might not even want to take over responsibility for regulating issues like electricity because then they’ll get blamed for approving rate hikes.

Picker continued his pitch for someone else to handle regulation for Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing services. The PUC was ill-prepared to take on the responsibility three years ago, he said, and remains understaffed when compared to the numbers of ride-hailing cars on the road.

“This is a crazy new market for a transportation service that doesn’t look exactly like anything that we’re doing,” he said.

Picker said he didn’t expect lawmakers to shift that responsibility to a different agency any time soon, noting a pending bill that would add statewide taxi cab regulation to the agency’s portfolio.

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The Dalai Lama arrives at the Capitol

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Braving the heat, the faithful wait for the Dalai Lama outside California’s Capitol

Families gathered with umbrellas, parasols and spray bottles filled with water on a sweltering afternoon as they waited more than an hour for the arrival of the world’s most famous monk.

Ahead of the Dalai Lama’s planned speech to the Legislature, children decked in traditional Tibetan dress waved flags and took photos with their friends on the lawn in front of the Capitol’s West Steps.

A lone protester shouted from a megaphone but was soon drowned out by shouts from the crowd and Tibetan music.

“We just want to welcome him because he is our leader,” said Tenzin Kusang, 8, who brought a bright Tibetan flag with her friends.

“It’s sort of like a once-in-a-lifetime chance,” added 13-year-old Tenzin Desel.

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On the Dalai Lama’s menu in Sacramento -- lunch with Jerry Brown

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Before the Dalai Lama arrived at California’s Capitol on Monday, he met with Gov. Jerry Brown at a “small, private luncheon,” the governor’s office said.

The Tibetan leader is scheduled to deliver a speech to a joint session of the Legislature this afternoon. He’ll be greeted by Senate leader Kevin de León and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon on the Capitol steps.

The Dalai Lama spent Saturday in Orange County, where he visited a new Buddhist temple in the Little Saigon neighborhood.

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Dalai Lama due to arrive at the state Capitol soon

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Survey finds California voters opposed to legalizing Internet poker

A survey Monday commissioned by several Native American tribes with concerns about legalizing Internet poker in California found a majority of California’s likely voters oppose the idea.

Before hearing any arguments for or against, the survey found that 52 percent of likely voters oppose allowing online poker games, which is proposed by a poker legalization bill by Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced). It would legalize and tax online poker in California.

When those surveyed were told Internet poker is illegal in the state but thousands of people still play it without consumer protection, 41% supported legalization and 51% opposed.

Some 74% of voters agreed that foreign websites that violated federal law by accepting U.S. users should be disqualified from getting a license in California.

The statewide telephone survey was conducted by the firm Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates on behalf of several tribes with opposition to legalizing Internet poker, including the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the Barona Band of Mission Indians and the Lytton Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians.

“Voters are clearly skeptical about legalizing online poker,” said Pechanga Tribal Chairman Mark Macarro. “Even more toxic are provisions that would grant a license to foreign websites that illegally took bets from Californians in violation of federal law.”

The survey was released two days before a legislative fiscal committee is scheduled to consider the bill.

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Politics podcast: A new state budget, a familiar fight over gun control

On this week’s California Politics Podcast, we take a closer look at the newly approved state budget and its implications for some of this year’s most talked about debates when it comes to efforts aimed at the working poor.

We also discuss new tensions in gun control efforts both at the state Capitol and on this fall’s ballot in the wake of the mass shooting in Orlando, Fla.

I’m joined this week by Anthony York of the Grizzly Bear Project.

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Democrats back pot legalization, repeal of death penalty

The California Democratic Party on Sunday stayed true to its left-leaning political ideals, voting to support ballot initiatives to legalize pot and repeal the death penalty.

The party’s executive board voted to endorse the recently qualified November ballot measures during a weekend meeting in Long Beach. Delegates at the party’s convention in February already had voted to endorse initiatives to hike cigarette taxes, affirm a law banning plastic grocery bags and impose stricter gun control.

The only mild surprise was the party’s decision to take no position on an initiative by the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation to bar the state from paying more for prescription drugs than the cost negotiated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Drug companies have mounted an aggressive opposition campaign to the measure.

Among the measures supported by the party:

  • Marijuana : The so-called Adult Use of Marijuana Act would legalize recreational pot use, allowing those 21 and older to possess and use up to an ounce. The measure would impose a 15% tax on retail sales of the drug and require the state to regulate the cultivation, distribution and sale of recreational marijuana.
  • Death penalty : A measure that would eliminate death sentences and replace them with a sentence of life without parole.
  • Citizens United: A symbolic measure that asks voters whether lawmakers should attempt to overturn the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission. The ruling in favor of a conservative nonprofit group opened the door to unlimited spending by corporations and unions in federal candidate campaigns. The measure carries no force of law.

Among the initiatives opposed by the party’s executive board:

  • Condoms: An initiative that would require porn actors to wear condoms.
  • Death penalty: The measure expedites appeals of death row inmates, with the intent of speeding up executions.
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Bill to expand overtime rules for farmworkers is resurrected in the Legislature

Two weeks after lawmakers rejected the proposal, an effort to create new overtime pay rules for California farmworkers has reappeared in the Legislature.

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) replaced the contents of an unrelated bill last week with language on overtime work rules.

On June 2, Gonzalez’s original attempt fell three votes short after an emotional floor debate in the Assembly. Several of her fellow Democrats either voted against the bill or abstained.

Like the first version, AB 1066 would phase in new overtime pay requirements for agricultural workers over a four-year period beginning in 2019. Supporters of the effort have argued that existing overtime allowances for farmworkers are too limited compared with other jobs.

By 2022, the bill would require overtime pay for farm labor longer than eight hours in a single day or 40 hours in a single week. In that same year, the bill would require double-time pay for any work over 12 hours.

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The Dalai Lama will speak to a joint session of the Legislature on Monday

As part of a trip through California, the Dalai Lama will address a joint session of the Legislature on Monday.

The speech, said legislative staffers, will touch on the environment, compassion and ethical leadership.

The Tibetan Buddhist leader’s visit to Sacramento comes on the heels of a sermon on Saturday in Orange County’s Little Saigon community.

Legislative leaders will formally greet the 14th Dalai Lama upon his arrival at the state Capitol. The speech to the Legislature is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

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Measure to repeal California’s death penalty qualifies for the November ballot

California voters will be asked this fall whether to repeal the state’s 38-year-old death penalty, as elections officials announced Friday that an initiative to abolish the law has earned a spot on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Backers of the initiative gathered almost 405,000 voter signatures, according to the final tally conducted by county elections officials.

The initiative, championed by former “M*A*S*H” actor Mike Farrell, would eliminate the death penalty for first-degree murder. The most serious punishment would become life in prison without the possibility of parole.

That would include the 743 inmates now on death row, the largest condemned population of any U.S. state and one beset with cases of extreme mental illness.

“Whether you look at the death penalty from a taxpayer, a criminal justice or a civil rights perspective, what is clear is that it fails in every respect,” said Farrell in a written statement Friday evening. “We have to do better in California.”

Only 13 inmates have been executed since the current law was enacted in 1978, with none in the last decade after legal challenges against the execution drugs administered by prison officials.

The initiative would require mandatory work while behind bars for those convicted of murder, with wages going to debts owed to crime victims.

The independent Legislative Analyst’s Office has estimated that in the long run, the ballot measure would reduce state government expenses by as much as $150 million a year, due the elimination of legal challenges to death sentences.

A similar ballot measure, Proposition 34, was defeated by voters in 2012. A pro-death penalty initiative may also appear on the November ballot, after supporters also turned in signatures last month.

November’s field of statewide propositions will probably produce the longest statewide ballot since March 2000. Besides the two death penalty measures, voter signatures on eight other initiatives are now being checked. The deadline for Secretary of State Alex Padilla to certify the list of ballot measures is June 30.

UPDATE 7:52 p.m. This story has been updated to include a comment from Mike Farrell.

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California leaders get an “incomplete” on budget report card

California lawmakers approved a new budget this week, sending it to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature. But just like every year, there are some issues that were left unresolved.

Here’s a look at what got done and what’s been left for later.

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Judge allows a Santa Cruz voter’s Bernie Sanders ballot to count, after mistaken registration as an American Independent

A Santa Cruz County judge ruled that a voter could change her registration status and have her ballot be counted in the Democratic presidential primary after she petitioned that she had mistakenly registered with California’s American Independent Party.

“This election, to me, is so important,” said Judith Webb, a Santa Cruz resident who won her case in court Wednesday.

Webb, 60, said she had assumed she was an “independent” voter until a friend pointed out the Los Angeles Times investigation of widespread confusion between being unaffiliated with any party and the minor, ultraconservative American Independent Party.

Unaffiliated voters, formally known in California as having “no party preference,” were allowed on June 7 to cross over and cast a ballot in the Democratic presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. But AIP voters were not allowed to participate.

Webb, a Sanders supporter, discovered her error after the May 23 voter registration deadline.

“I was looking for my presidential candidate who wasn’t on there,” she said in a phone interview on Friday.

Santa Clara County Dist. Judge John Gallagher, in a brief hearing, ordered elections officials to change Webb’s voter registration status to “no party preference” and count her June 7 primary ballot.

“He congratulated me on my effort,” said Webb of the judge’s reaction.

Gail Pellerin, Santa Cruz County’s registrar of voters, said her staff often helps people navigate the judicial process if a registration error is discovered. She did not object to the judge’s ruling.

“I’m not going to oppose counting someone’s vote,” Pellerin said.

An exclusive poll conducted as part of the Times investigation found that 73% of AIP voters who were surveyed had no idea they were a member of a political party.

“As I’m talking around to people, there are more people in the same position,” she said.

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Wife of assemblyman accused of domestic violence testifies she is ‘afraid’ his election loss will prompt retaliation

Baldwin Park City Councilwoman Susan Rubio said in court Thursday she is fearful her husband, Assemblyman Roger Hernández, will retaliate against her because of his poor showing in the state’s primary election.

Rubio is seeking a domestic violence restraining order against Hernández, a Democrat from West Covina. The assemblyman was dogged by allegations that he repeatedly beat his estranged wife as he ran for Congress.

Testifying Thursday, Rubio said she was afraid of what might happen to her in the future if Hernández is eliminated in the primary.

“I’m afraid he is going to blame it on me and try to retaliate,” she said while testifying.

Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Norwalk) has won 51% of the votes cast in the June 7 primary. Hernández is currently 1,178 votes behind behind first-time Republican candidate Gordon E. Fisher in the race for second place. The top two finishers, regardless of party, advance to a November runoff against the congresswoman, who is favored to win reelection.

The Los Angeles County race is still listed as a close contest by California’s Secretary of State.

Rubio alleged in an April court declaration seeking a restraining order that Hernández had shoved, hit and choked her repeatedly since they were married in 2013.

At a hearing in May she made new allegations, saying he had beat her with a broom and threatened her with a knife during their marriage.

Hernández denied Rubio’s allegations in a May 3 court declaration, saying he “would never engage in the type of conduct respondent has accused me of committing.”

Hernández testified Thursday that Rubio had “fabricated” the allegations against him.

He said the couple had arguments where they would yell at each other, but that he never hit his wife.

“There were times when she exaggerated events,” he said.

At one point, Rubio’s attorney, Crystal Boultinghouse, took an overtly political line of questioning, asking Hernández if he thought Rubio’s allegations were the “No. 1” reason for his election results.

He said the accusations against him played a “significant role” in the vote tally. He said “just about every attack” against him in the election was based on Rubio’s allegations.

Boultinghouse continued asking him about the election and held up a political mailer sent out by Napolitano’s campaign that included Rubio’s allegations and information about another woman who obtained a restraining order against him in 2012.

Judge Shelley Kaufman became frustrated with the questioning.

“I don’t know where we are going with this at all,” Kaufman said.

Rubio filled a declaration seeking the order after an April 5 divorce hearing at which she said Hernández came “aggressively” toward her and began shouting in her face. She said in her declaration the incident gave her “flashbacks” of previous violence during their marriage, so she decided to seek the restraining order.

Though she did not mention it in her declaration, Rubio testified earlier this month that Hernández approached her during the hallway incident and told her “you haven’t seen the wrath of me yet.”

Hernández disputed Rubio’s version of events after the hearing.

He said he approached her in a “calm” and “peaceful” demeanor.

“I was diplomatic,” he said. “I was soft-spoken.”

The hearing continues Friday.

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Don’t look for me on Hillary Clinton’s ticket, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti says

Eric Garcetti wants to stay mayor of Los Angeles rather than join Hillary Clinton as vice president, he told KNX Newsradio on Thursday.

“I’m not looking for a new job,” he said. “I have a great one right now, and that’s being mayor of the city.”

Garcetti’s name was floated as a potential running mate for Clinton in a recent Wall Street Journal article.

He endorsed Clinton and campaigned with her during the California primary. He’s also planning to run for reelection next year and could also mount a bid for governor in 2018.

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New ad for California gun control campaign focuses on deadly Orlando rampage and other mass shootings

The campaign behind Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed ballot initiative to toughen California’s gun laws released a video Thursday focused on the deadly assault that left 49 dead at an Orlando nightclub Sunday and other mass shootings in the U.S.

The video, which is running only online and through social media outlets, includes news footage from shootings in Sandy Hook, Columbine, Virginia Tech and San Bernardino.

As the images appear on the screen, Newsom urges voters to support the November ballot initiative and take on the National Rifle Assn., saying “we are not innocent bystanders.”

And I’ll say this to the NRA: You can intimidate politicians, we’ve seen that. Hell, you’ve been effective. But you can’t intimidate the public,” he says.

Newsom’s proposed initiative, called the Safety for All Act, would require background checks for ammunition purchases and ban possession of large-capacity magazines.

A package of bills that would impose similar new gun restrictions is currently winding its way through the California Legislature.

A coalition of gun rights advocates also recently produced videos opposing Newsom’s measure.

One of them shows a woman pulling out a gun as a man attacks her in a dark parking garage — but there are no bullets in her gun. The video ends with the message: “Take away our rights. Take away our life.”

That video also appears online and on social media sites.

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California’s new motor voter law could add 2 million registered voters in its first year, study says

A new study from the Public Policy Institute of California estimates that, if executed successfully, the state’s new motor voter law could add more than 2 million new voters to the rolls in its first year of implementation.

The new law, slated to take effect next year, is supposed to streamline the way citizens register to vote at Department of Motor Vehicles offices. Once fully implemented, drivers applying for or renewing licenses and completing other DMV transactions will have their information electronically transmitted to the secretary of State, as long as they’ve confirmed they’re eligible to vote and don’t opt out of registering.

State officials have been saying for months that potentially millions of new voters could be registered under the new law. The PPIC report released Thursday appears to bolster that claim.

If the law is a success, the report says, California’s electorate could grow to include more Latinos, young people and those with foreign-born parents and lower education levels.

The share of voters who have not attended college could increase by more than 6 percentage points, for example, and the share of Latino voters in the electorate could jump from 23.8% to 27.8%, PPIC found.

Much of that depends on how the secretary of state and DMV roll the program out, the report states.

For example, voters registering at the DMV as of April 1 have been using a new protocol that helps automate the process but requires registrants to go to a separate room to answer key questions about party preference and language preference on a touch-screen terminal.

As many as a third of people registering to vote at DMV offices statewide have walked out before completing this crucial step, officials have said. That has led to criticism from voter advocates who say the two-step process could confuse voters and lead to complications in voting.

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California lawmakers create a University of California research center on gun violence

A photo is taken of a bus bearing some of the more than 6,000 names of people killed by gun violence since the massacre in Newtown, Conn.
A photo is taken of a bus bearing some of the more than 6,000 names of people killed by gun violence since the massacre in Newtown, Conn.
(Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

Legislators on Thursday approved $5 million for the creation of a new research center on firearm violence, with supporters saying it will provide statistically sound data on the effectiveness of existing gun laws.

“It is a big step for us, frankly, and for the country to step in where Congress has failed,” said state Sen. Lois Wolk (D-Davis) during floor debate.

The proposal was contained in one of the “trailer” bills that implements the new state budget approved on Wednesday. Lawmakers aren’t expected to wrap up their work on the implementation bills until next week.

The effort began as a standalone piece of legislation earlier this year but was ultimately tucked into the final budget agreement between legislative leaders and Gov. Jerry Brown.

Federal research into gun violence has largely been dormant for two decades, the result of lobbying by the National Rifle Assn. to curb the use of federal dollars. The organization also opposed the California effort, arguing it would use taxpayer dollars to fund a political agenda.

The budget bill that contains the gun violence center received a few Republican votes on Thursday in Sacramento.

Lawmakers have pointed out that California bears the brunt of significant costs from gun-related violence. A 2013 state agency report concluded that government-sponsored insurance programs pay for some two-thirds of the cost of firearm assaults and about half the cost of unintentional or self-inflicted gun injuries.

On Monday, a package of bills that would impose new gun restrictions cleared a major hurdle in the state Capitol after emotional testimony from both gun control and gun rights groups. That vote came just two days after the mass shooting in Orlando, Fla., that left 49 people dead.

That incident “underscores our need to better understand the impact of firearm violence,” said UC spokesperson Claire Doan. She said location and further funding for the research center are still to be determined.

The language of the budget-related bill says that there’s a lack of objective data on the impact of gun violence, a void that the UC center would fill.

The proposal would ask the UC center to focus on both the causes and consequences of gun violence as well as the effectiveness of existing laws. The $5 million appropriation was designed to provide funding for the gun violence center’s first five years of operation.

UPDATE 1:09 p.m. This story has been updated with additional information.

12:55 p.m. This story has been updated to reflect the vote took place on Thursday, not Friday.

10:57 a.m. This story has been updated with additional information on the budget proposal.

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Clean car programs running out of cash in California

As California lawmakers put the final touches on the state budget, one thing that won’t be included is any money for subsidizing the purchase of clean cars.

The funding has been the victim of a political impasse over the future of the state’s climate change agenda. It’s a setback for getting more zero-emission vehicles on the road, an important step for reaching California’s environmental goals.

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State lawmakers convene to continue work on budget-related bills

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Gov. Brown congratulates lawmakers as they pass the state budget

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California Legislature approves $171-billion budget

With concerns about the potential for another recession casting a shadow over this year’s budget negotiations, California lawmakers today sent to Gov. Jerry Brown a new $170.9-billion spending plan.

It increases some funding for social services but stashes more away in a rainy-day fund.

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And now the Senate approves the budget. Next stop is Jerry Brown’s desk.

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Assembly approves budget -- now it’s the Senate’s turn

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Lawmakers offer views, split by party, on new California state budget

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Budget debate gets going

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Los Angeles County’s quest for a milionaires’ tax to help the homeless is ‘premature,’ says Senate leader

In perhaps the most clear signal yet of the long odds facing Los Angeles leaders, Senate leader Kevin de León declined on Wednesday to endorse a local income tax on millionaires for funding homeless prevention programs.

“It’s premature, because if the governor is not on board, then it’s all for naught,” said the Los Angeles Democrat during a state budget discussion with reporters.

De León and his Democratic colleagues convinced Gov. Jerry Brown to embrace a $2-billion statewide bond for housing the homeless who suffer from mental illness. That proposal will be considered by both houses of the Legislature on Thursday.

Last week, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas met with the governor as part of a Sacramento visit to make the case in person for a local tax on incomes above $1 million with proceeds earmarked for homeless programs.

The challenge is whether a green light for Los Angeles would lead to other counties also wanting to impose their own local income taxes.

De León also said on Wednesday that the idea could lead to other efforts that might undermine the power, and relevance, of state lawmakers.

“You start diffusing and decentralizing one’s responsibility in the state Capitol and then it makes you wonder,” he said.

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Gov. Jerry Brown wants to extend California’s climate change law beyond 2020

Gov. Jerry Brown is endorsing an extension of the state’s main climate change law.

“We will not meet our world-leading clean air and emission reduction targets unless we solidify and redouble our commitment to the state’s cap-and-trade program and climate goals beyond 2020, and we will work hard to get that done,” Brown spokeswoman Deborah Hoffman told The Times.

The state’s climate program has been beset by political, legal and financial problems and AB 32, the landmark 2006 legislation that established the state’s cap-and-trade program alongside dramatic targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, only runs through 2020.

Previously, Brown has extended the greenhouse gas reduction targets through executive orders.

State Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), who authored AB 32, has pushed for new legislation to force lawmakers to show their support for the state’s climate change goals before the legislative session ends in August.

Any deal might require a two-thirds vote to bulletproof the new law from legal challenges over revenue generated through the cap-and-trade program.

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It’s budget day in California’s Capitol

Lawmakers are meeting Wednesday to approve the next state budget, hitting their deadline for a new spending plan.

The proposal includes $170.9 billion in state spending, which includes the general fund, dedicated funds and bond money.

The Assembly and the state Senate are each scheduled to start their floor sessions at 3 p.m.

To catch you up to speed, the final budget deal includes extra money for the state’s rainy-day fund, as well as new funding for child care and welfare.

The Legislative Women’s Caucus scored some significant victories this year.

The budget deal would remove detailed transparency requirements for a new accounting system.

Gov. Jerry Brown backed a $2 billion bond to help the homeless earlier this year.

Legislative analysts said it was a good idea for the state to stockpile more money in reserve to guard against an economic downturn.

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Congressman gets military promotion

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There soon could be a new ‘unknown’ voter category in California

As part of the budget deal expected to be passed by the end of this week, California will create a new category to describe voters, in addition to the eight existing options that exist, including Libertarian, the state’s American Independent Party and No Party Preference.

The new category will label voters as having an “Unknown” party preference and would apply mostly to voters registering at the Department of Motor Vehicles, where a new voter registration process recently was implemented.

As many as one-third of voters registering at the DMV since the program began April 1 have walked out without completing important questions about their party preference, language preference or vote-by-mail status. All of those questions must now be answered on separate, touch-screen terminals in another room.

While they are still registered to vote, their party currently defaults to “No Party Preference,” a designation that accounts for almost 1 in every 4 California voters.

Starting next year, when the state’s new motor-voter law goes into effect, those voters instead will be labeled as “Unknown.” State officials have said that law, which was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last year, is expected to ultimately enroll millions of new voters.

But with the DMV already registering tens of thousands of voters under its new protocol, and with a sizable portion of voters walking out before completing all of the steps, this week’s budget agreement seeks to bridge the gap until the law takes effect.

“Unknown” voters, by law, wouldn’t be counted as part of the total number of registered voters for the purpose of determining a party’s ballot eligibility.

So why make the distinction? A handful of people close to the negotiations around last year’s motor-voter law said that at least part of it was politics, and that the change was made after top-level negotiations among legislative leaders in the final days before the bill’s passage.

Paul Mitchell, vice president of Political Data Inc. which sells voter data to campaigns and their consultants, says he sees the “Unknown” voter category as a way for Democrats and Republicans to fight the perception that more voters are rejecting parties altogether.

“The consolation prize is that, yes, the train is headed in the direction where people are going to be registering in greater numbers without a party ... but we’ll allow you to call them something different for the sake of face-saving in the future,” he said.

Mitchell says distinguishing between a voter who purposefully chose not to be affiliated with any party and one who might have overlooked that step can be valuable for purposes of voter targeting, particularly if the person is a new voter with little to no past political activity from which to draw.

“There were a lot of campaign consultants concerned about the harm that it would do to their targeting, the inability for them to be able to identify the right voters,” if unaffiliated voters were lumped in with those who simply didn’t complete the DMV’s two-step process.

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One week later, almost 2 million California primary ballots still must be reviewed

Elections officials across California continue to work through a stack of unprocessed ballots, now totaling more than 1.9 million potential votes in last week’s local and statewide races.

About 60% of the unprocessed ballots are in just a half dozen counties. By law, local officials have another three weeks to count votes, a process slowed down in part by the large number of ballots cast by mail.

This is also the first year for a new state law allowing any ballot received 72 hours after election day to be counted, as long as it was postmarked in time.

The latest results haven’t changed any of the statewide races. In the closely watched Democratic presidential primary, Hillary Clinton’s lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders stands at more than 11 percentage points. That’s largely the same gap that existed between Clinton and Sanders on election night.

Los Angeles County, the state’s most populous, still has 556,319 ballots to review. Many of them are provisional ballots, designed to be cast when there are questions on election day about a voter’s registration status.

Dean Logan, the county’s clerk-registrar of voters, acknowledged on Tuesday that there had been some problems on June 7 and that some of them were caused by confusion over the differing rules for the presidential and statewide primary races.

San Diego County and Riverside County, respectively, still have the second and third largest number of ballots to be reviewed.

Should all of the unprocessed ballots be counted, statewide voter turnout in the closely watched primary would be about 51% of those registered. That would rank behind voter turnout in the 2000 and 2008 presidential primaries, the last two with open races in both major political parties.

State election law allows counties 30 days to finish the processing of ballots and their final count of votes cast.

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Legislative Women’s Caucus marks budget victories

The final budget deal slated for a vote on Wednesday includes some of the top priorities for the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, which successfully advocated for more child care funding and the removal of a controversial limit on welfare benefits.

“I’m very pleased,” said Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), the caucus chairwoman, after a news conference outside the Capitol. “Focusing on the needs of our families and our children in particular is so important in this state.”

Once the budget is finalized, Jackson said lawmakers would continue to push to expand maternity and paternity leave for Californians.

Removing a limit on welfare benefits, a policy known as the maximum family grant, was a longtime goal of Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles). The rule prevented families from receiving additional benefits if they had a new baby while on welfare.

“It has only driven women and their children into deeper poverty,” she said. With this year’s change, “we have begun chipping away at the injustices of the past.”

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California’s economy (maybe) moves to world’s sixth largest

A favorite bragging right of California politicians is how the state would fare were it to be its own country. On Tuesday, a new report concluded that it would be the sixth largest on the planet -- depending, though, on how one looks at it.

Data from the International Monetary Fund shows California’s gross domestic product (GDP) at more than $2.4 trillion in 2015, the only state of its kind in a list that’s reserved for nations.

California’s spot on the list has fluctuated over the past decade, generally somewhere between the fifth and eighth largest world economies.

And as the independent Legislative Analyst’s Office pointed out on Tuesday, GDP growth in California between 2014 and 2015 far outpaced that of other states.

But as LAO researchers also pointed out, the global GDP numbers that suggest California’s economy as sixth largest in the world don’t take into account something of huge importance: The cost of living.

Once that’s factored in, the IMF data finds California drops from sixth to eleventh in the global size of its gross domestic product. That still eclipses other U.S. states, but is some important context for politicians who might be freshening up their talking points.

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Congressional bills would double size of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

(Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) want to more than double the size of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area under legislation filed in both the House and Senate today.

The Rim of the Valley Corridor Preservation Act would add 193,000 acres stretching from the Simi Hills and Santa Susannas, the Verdugos and on to the San Gabriel Mountains.

“Back in the 70s, Congress had the foresight to know that L.A. was going to grow and preserved a lot of the open space that drew people to the region,” Schiff said. “L.A. grew exponentially, and that park is one of the most heavily utilized in the nation. Now, we’re at another crossroads.”

For decades, conservationists have hoped to expand the recreation area to create a greenbelt around the San Fernando Valley.

In February, the National Park Service finished a study of the feasibility of setting aside the land as part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

“L.A. has continued to grow, but we still have this wonderful wildlife corridor around us that allow mountain lions to come into Griffith Park and bears to come into people’s swimming pools. That’s going to vanish if we don’t act to protect the remaining open space,” Schiff said.

In a statement, Boxer called the Santa Monica Mountains one of the state’s greatest treasures.

The bills allow the Park Service to buy land or accept it as a donation and specifically prohibit expanding the recreation area through eminent domain.

“We want to avoid any unnecessary opposition to the bill. The Park Service has no intention of using eminent domain, that’s not what they do. And so by making it explicit, we can ally anyone’s concern that this is going to be some sort of federal land grab,” Schiff said.

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Bernie Sanders doesn’t expect news from California’s vote count soon

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Democrats push gun control bills forward in the Capitol

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Budget deal would drop transparency requirements for new accounting system

The state’s new government accounting system, which has fallen years behind schedule and cost hundreds of millions of dollars more than originally anticipated, may not be as transparent as previously planned.

Legislation for the system, known as FI$Cal, originally specified several pieces of detailed data about state spending that would be available on a public website once the project was up and running.

The data included the dollar amount of any government expenditure, its purpose and which agency was handling the money.

However, the state budget agreement being considered by lawmakers this week removes all of those requirements, simply stating instead that there will be a public website about spending.

H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for Gov. Jerry Brown’s Department of Finance, said the change was made because the new accounting system may not be able to capture all the details that were required under the earlier transparency goals, which have been included in legislation involving the project for years.

Although disclosure on the website of specific items would not be required, “nothing would preclude these items from being information that is included,” Palmer said.

He said that transparency has been “one of the primary goals” of FI$Cal, and the modified legislation would allow “as much flexibility as possible to provide as broad an array of information as possible.”

The FI$Cal project is slated to cost $840 million by the time it’s fully implemented in 2019.

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Former Calderon colleague calls for no leniency in corruption case sentencing

With former legislators Tom and Ronald Calderon deciding to plead guilty to federal criminal charges, Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) is calling for stiff sentences for the Democratic brothers.

“Today we begin to remove the dark cloud that has been over the capitol and my district,” Garcia said in an emailed statement. “I hope the judge does not use leniency in sentencing the Calderons. The constituents and elected officials in my community will continue to [bear] the burden of their wrongdoing and the loss of trust will be felt for generations to come, definitely longer than the maximum prison sentence either will receive under this deal.”

Former Assemblyman Tom Calderon last week pleaded guilty to money laundering and former Sen. Ronald Calderon on Monday agreed to plead guilty to mail fraud as part of a federal corruption case.

Kathay Feng, head of the watchdog group California Common Cause, said state officials should respond to the Calderon case by taking up reforms.

“Senator Calderon’s guilty plea to a felony charge is serious,” she said. “The Legislature and the governor should use this moment to examine how to restore public trust in Sacramento -- including changes to break the addiction to special interest money in politics.”

Voters this month enacted one change in response to the Calderon case when they approved Proposition 50, which allows the Legislature to suspend members without pay.

Sen. Calderon was suspended during the last eight months of his term, but with pay.

But another change enacted by the Senate — a ban on political fundraising during the budget deliberations — was lifted this year after the Assembly did not adopt a similar rule.

“The lesson we’ve learned here is that it is going to require simultaneous scandals in both houses of the Legislature to make political reform happen,” said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC.

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‘Sad chapter’ ends, state Senate leader says, as Calderon agrees to plead guilty to mail fraud

The surprise decision Monday by former state Sen. Ronald S. Calderon (D-Montebello) to plead guilty to mail fraud ended a “sad chapter” in the history of the Legislature in which four lawmakers were charged with criminal wrongdoing, the leader of the Senate said.

The plea agreement allows Calderon to skip a trial at which state lawmakers were expected to testify, including Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles).

“This closes a sad chapter in the Senate’s history,” De León said in a statement Monday. “We move on.”

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California legislators pause to remember the victims of the Orlando shooting

From reading the names of those killed to the symbolic positioning of a rainbow flag, the symbol of gay pride, California state legislators added somber words in the wake of the Orlando mass shooting to their regular work sessions on Monday.

“Today I rise brokenhearted, angry and utterly disgusted,” said state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) in his remarks on the Senate floor.

Both the Senate and Assembly adjourned in the memory of the victims in Sunday’s attack, the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. The Senate also paused for a moment of silence.

“Today is a tragic reminder that evil still exists in the world,” Lara said.

Other members of the Legislature’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender caucus said the shooting serves as a reminder of the constant struggle for acceptance.

“To be proud is you refuse to be ashamed,” said Assemblywoman Susan Eggman (D-Stockton). “You refuse to deny who you are.”

And, not surprisingly, the comments by some Democrats came back to gun control.

“These tragedies do not occur regularly in other countries,” said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount). “We have to stop the all-too-easy access so many have to the tools of destruction, used in violence and hate crimes and acts of terror,” he said.

“This tragedy,” said state Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), “was fueled by hate combined with an assault weapon, a very toxic combination.”

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Lawmakers say it’s time to redefine rape in California law

Amid the intense debate over the sentence handed down to a former Stanford student after a campus sexual assault, two members of the California Legislature say the state’s definition is out of date.

“We found a loophole in California’s criminal code and need to fix the law to send a strong message that we do not accept rape in California,” said Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens).

Garcia and Assemblywoman Susan Eggman (D-Stockton) introduced Monday a last-minute bill to broaden the state’s definition of rape as beyond “an act of sexual intercourse.” That would include “penetration” of any kind without consent.

The lawmakers said that the six-month jail sentence for Brock Turner, the former Stanford student found guilty in the attack, was limited because the assault did not fit the existing definition of rape.

In a statement, Eggman called it an “archaic definition” that “finds any excuse to be lenient with rapists.”

Both women have been outspoken in recent days about the Stanford case, with Garcia signing on to political efforts to remove the Santa Clara County judge who handed down the sentence.

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After Orlando, California lawmakers rally for gun control bills

A group of California lawmakers said Monday that the Orlando massacre is a call to action for the state Legislature to pass a package of 11 gun control bills scheduled for key votes this week.

Four Assembly members gathered with community leaders in San Francisco to call on their colleagues to pass the legislation that includes measures to plug loopholes in the state’s ban on the sale of assault weapons.

“Why are guns that are so dangerous to human life available so easily?” said Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael) at the Hiram Johnson State Building. “Yesterday’s tragedy was a call to action. The loss of life in our communities has become unbearable.”

California law already bans the sale of AR-15-style assault weapons like the one reportedly used by Omar Mateen when he killed 50 people and wounded more than 50 others at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla.

State officials say similar but differently named semiautomatic guns outfitted with “bullet buttons” that allow quick replacement of ammunition magazines could still be sold.

Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) said the bills scheduled for action Tuesday in legislative committees would close loopholes that allow the sale of semiautomatic rifles with detachable magazines.

Other bills would outlaw the possession of magazines with a capacity of more than 10 bullets and require background checks for people who buy ammunition.

“We want to make sure we have opportunities to grieve right now,” Ting said. “But at the same time we do have an opportunity to take action.”

The bills pending in the Legislature were introduced in response to a terrorist attack in December that killed 14 people in San Bernardino. Democratic Assemblymen Rob Bonta of Oakland and David Chiu of San Francisco also said the Orlando massacre shows action is overdue.

“After the tragedies in Newtown and San Bernardino, our community demanded action, and this week approximately another 50 families will be planning funerals for their loved ones,” Bonta said.

Ting is author of a bill that would expand a year-old law allowing law enforcement and family members to ask a court to issue a restraining order to take guns away from people they believe are dangerous.

“If Florida had what we have in California, a gun violence restraining order, people could have acted,” Ting said. “What we had [in Orlando] is law enforcement had concerns, this person’s wife had concerns.”

The press conference was also attended by leaders of the gay and Muslim communities who condemned the Orlando shooting but did not take a position on the pending gun control bills.

There are logical steps we can take to prevent highly destructive weapons from getting into the wrong hands, responsible ways to do it, and we can take action right now,” Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) said in a statement Sunday. “Thoughts and prayers are not enough.”

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is championing a measure likely to qualify for the fall ballot that would implement similar gun control restrictions.

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Is Rep. Steve Knight California’s most endangered incumbent?

A new analysis from the nonpartisan Cook Political Report says that Republican Rep. Steve Knight, a freshman congressman from Antelope Valley in northern Los Angeles County, is considered a top target for Democrats who want to regain footing in the U.S. House.

Analyst David Wasserman moved Knight’s Republican district into the “toss-up” category, thanks to turbulence surrounding presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and the growth in Democratic voter registration in the 25th Congressional District, which stretches from Lancaster to Santa Clarita and Simi Valley.

Knight’s predecessor, former Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), benefited from having 14,000 more registered Republican voters than Democrats in the district when he was last elected in 2012.

Knight has seen that lead evaporate. Before this week’s primary, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla reported that there are now 3,000 more registered Democrats in the district than Republicans.

Wasserman wrote that Knight was “now the most vulnerable incumbent in California.”

Knight will face attorney Bryan Caforio in November’s runoff after Caforio bested LAPD Lt. Lou Vince for second in the primary.

Caforio has been lavished with endorsements and contributions from Democrats and their political committees.

Earlier this spring, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman, Rep. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, said the seat is “on our battlefield now in a very aggressive way” thanks to the prospects of Trump’s candidacy.

On election night, DCCC staffers were in Santa Barbara to see the results of the nine-person primary race to replace Rep. Lois Capps — Democratic Santa Barbara County Supervisor Salud Carbajal came in first — and spoke with excitement about the prospect of Caforio taking on Knight.

As the general election approaches, Caforio will probably face more intense criticism for being from outside the district. He and his wife lived in Los Angeles and moved to Santa Clarita shortly before announcing his candidacy for Congress in December.

Knight served on the Palmdale City Council and represented the north Los Angeles County area in the state Assembly and Senate. Knight’s father, the late William J. “Pete” Knight, was a former Air Force test pilot and Republican state senator in the Antelope Valley.

Still, with Knight’s sometimes shaky fundraising, reluctance to speak about whether he supports Trump and an incident last year in which he told off a protester, Democrats think they can take Knight down.

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Politics podcast: California primary post-mortem

One of the most talked-about California primary elections in years is in the books, although a lot of votes remain to be counted in the coming days.

On this week’s California Politics Podcast, we take a quick and early look at the results -- winners, losers and what it means for the political battles this fall and beyond.

I’m joined by Marisa Lagos of KQED News and Anthony York of the Grizzly Bear Project.

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Garcetti endorses Gov. Jerry Brown’s housing plan

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has endorsed Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to streamline low-income housing development.

“By encouraging housing construction in urban areas already zoned for housing, this bill will facilitate a market solution to the state’s severe housing shortage,” Garcetti and City Councilman Gil Cedillo wrote in a June 9 letter to Brown.

Garcetti said in the letter that almost two-thirds of Angelenos live in overcrowded conditions or have an excessive housing-cost burden. He said that the land-use reforms offered by Brown will spur developers to build.

Under Brown’s plan, developers will be able to avoid detailed local and environmental reviews if they reserve a certain percentage of units in their projects for low-income residents, provided that the projects match existing zoning rules. Experts in the Los Angeles development process have said the law would wipe away the city’s three-decade history of requiring detailed reviews for any project larger than 50 units.

As part of the state budget deal announced Thursday, Brown and lawmakers agreed to provide $400 million in affordable housing subsidies, provided the Legislature approves a version of the governor’s streamlining plan.

In the letter, Garcetti endorsed additional state spending on housing subsidies as well as a $2-billion borrowing plan to fund housing for the homeless that also made it into the budget deal. Garcetti also asked Brown to amend his proposal to boost the percentage of homes that must be reserved for low-income residents to qualify for streamlined review.

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Just about everyone likes the decision to increase California’s minimum wage

Nearly every demographic group in California — rich and poor, educated and not, old and young — is behind the state’s recent decision to boost the minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next few years, a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll has found.

Broad support for the wage hike also comes with a caveat: Most Californians also think the decision will hurt the state’s economy by pushing companies out of the state and raising prices for consumers. A pollster who conducted the survey said Californians believe the benefits of the wage increase outweigh the costs.

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Another try at limiting police property seizures

A big fight over whether police in California can take a person’s money, cars or other assets without a criminal conviction is coming back to the Legislature soon.

Last year, a bill from Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), which would have tightened restrictions on the practice, had a decisive loss on the Assembly floor after law enforcement groups persuaded legislators that making changes would hurt their ability to go after drug traffickers.

Mitchell, along with a diverse group of supporters including many conservative and libertarian groups, is trying again this year without making many substantive changes to her bill. If the legislation passes, California would join a number of states that have tightened their rules on civil forfeitures in recent years.

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Gavin Newsom chides the NRA and talks Hillary Clinton on Chelsea Handler’s new Netflix show

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom slammed the National Rifle Assn. in an interview with television host Chelsea Handler after a California group with the NRA’s support suggested a new gun control initiative he backed will put transgender women at risk. Newsom appeared on Handler’s new Netflix show, “Chelsea,” which is available to stream at midnight Friday.

The Coalition for Civil Liberties, which was created by California gun groups to fight Newsom’s ballot measure, tweeted a photo of Nicki Stallard of Fresno, asking, “If Gavin Newsom gets this passed, how will transgender women like me be able to protect ourselves?”

Newsom fired back at the group in a tweet and addressed the issue again during the interview with Handler.

“They kind of disagree with me on everything I say,” Newsom said of the NRA.

He continued, “With all due respect to them.”

“With no respect to them. No. There is no respect,” Handler said.

“Good point. They offer none, they deserve none,” Newsom replied.

The coalition was started by gun groups including the California Rifle & Pistol Assn., which is the official state association of the NRA.

The coalition had previously released an Internet ad showing a woman pulling a gun out as she is attacked by a man in a dark parking garage. The woman finds there are no bullets when she pulls the trigger.

The black-and-white video ends with the text: “Take away our rights. Take away our life.”

Newsom’s measure would require background checks for ammunition and ban possession of large-capacity magazines.

Newsom also reflected on the effect Hillary Clinton’s historic campaign will have on young people, and said the idea that a woman could become president will expand the minds of his two young boys.

Handler responded with the type of tongue-in-cheek joke she is known for.

Watch:

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Governor, lawmakers reach deal on new California budget

With six days left before the deadline, Gov. Jerry Brown and top lawmakers have agreed on a new state budget that would increase funding for child care and repeal a controversial limit on welfare benefits.

The budget would also set aside $400 million for affordable housing, which would only be spent if a separate deal can be reached on streamlining the process for new construction.

Lawmakers are scheduled to convene a hearing on Thursday night to begin approving the new spending plan.

The possibility of another economic downturn has loomed over negotiations, and the budget deal includes an extra deposit of $2 billion into the state’s rainy-day fund.

There’s also more money for social services. Because California is increasing the minimum wage, rates paid to state-subsidized child care providers are also being ramped up. The extra funding is expected to total $500 million annually starting in 2019.

In addition, the budget would repeal a rule known as the maximum family grant, which prevents mothers from receiving additional benefits if they have another child while on welfare.

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Housing deal reached in California budget

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‘These are the facts’: Congresswoman reads rape victim’s letter on House floor

U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) went to the House floor Tuesday morning to read part of the 12-page statement read aloud in court by the woman raped by a former Stanford University swimmer whose six-month jail sentence has been decried as a paltry punishment.

The House often sets aside time when members can have up to five minutes to address the chamber on any topic they want.

Some use the time to talk about constituents or topics they don’t think are getting enough attention.

Speier began her remarks on the California case, and the candid and blunt statement that has captivated public attention with the words, “These are facts.”

Warning, some graphic language:

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Long-stalled ride-hailing bills moving forward in pro-taxi senator’s committee

More than a year after they passed the Assembly with little opposition, two bills to ease regulations on Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing services are set to receive hearings in the state Senate.

Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego) had used his power as chairman of the Senate’s Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee to hold off scheduling the bills for a hearing, a commonly used tactic at the Capitol to stall or kill legislation. Hueso’s brothers own San Diego’s largest taxicab company, and Hueso is one of Sacramento’s biggest advocates of greater regulations on the ride-hailing industry.

Hueso had said he wanted to wait to put the two pro-ride-hailing bills forward until his committee held a hearing on the state of the industry as a whole. That discussion happened earlier this year, and, as promised, the two bills now are set for hearings in Hueso’s committee on June 21.

One of the proposals, from Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), would exempt Uber and Lyft drivers from having to purchase commercial licenses after some mixed signals from the state on whether they were necessary. The other, from Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), would further clear the way for ride-hailing companies to offer carpooling services.

Uber and Lyft, which spend heavily on lobbying and enjoy the support of tech-friendly Democrats have racked up big wins at the Capitol so far this year. In another recent victory, a bill that would have allowed for stricter background checks on ride-hailing company drivers failed to make it out of the Assembly.

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L.A. supervisor urges governor to sign off on county’s homelessness plan

Annie Moody adjusts belongings next to her tent on Towne Avenue at 6th Street in Los Angeles.
(Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

A Los Angeles County supervisor had a one-on-one meeting with Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday to advocate for levying a countywide income tax on millionaires to pay for homeless services.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who represents a large part of south Los Angeles County, said in an interview that rising homelessness in Los Angeles is a crisis that requires greater local investment. Ridley-Thomas and other local lawmakers want to put forward a measure on November’s ballot in Los Angeles that would raise income taxes on those earning more than $1 million to fund homeless services, as part of a broad strategy to combat the problem.

A so-called millionaire’s tax, Ridley-Thomas said, polls far above the two-thirds threshold needed for passage and wouldn’t conflict with a push to increase sales taxes to fund transportation improvements also targeted for the November ballot in Los Angeles.

“It is the most favored in the region,” Ridley-Thomas said.

The problem is that local governments don’t have the authority to raise income taxes on their own, so the state would have to sign off on the deal. Ridley-Thomas and 29 state lawmakers, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and other L.A.-area politicians are urging Brown and legislative leaders to allow the change.

County supervisors have until early August to finalize measures on the November ballot, so Ridley-Thomas is pushing for the change to be included in state budget negotiations ahead of next week’s deadline for passage.

Brown has been cold to giving local governments increased taxing authority, recently vetoing a bill that would have allowed cities and counties to charge their own tobacco taxes.

“The governor continues to have deep concerns about this plan,” Brown spokesman Evan Westrup said of the income tax proposal.

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U.S. Senate passes overhaul to expand review of chemicals in everyday products

The Environmental Protection Agency will have to review the safety of thousands of chemicals — many commonly found in items Americans interact with every day — under legislation on its way to President Obama.

The House passed the bill in May, but it was held up when Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he needed more time to read the legislation. He released his hold this week, and the Senate passed the bill Tuesday.

It’s an update of the 40-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act, and will now allow the EPA to gather more information about a chemical before it can be used in the United States, while limiting how and when states can act on their own to regulate a chemical.

The current Toxic Substances Control Act, signed by President Ford in 1976, gave the EPA authority to review the potential human and environmental risks of chemicals, but the agency restricts only a small fraction of the tens of thousands of chemicals used in products in the United States, including detergents and pesticides.

Here is a look at what the bill means for California and its tough environmental laws.

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After AP calls nomination for Clinton, will voters still turn out Tuesday?

(Mariah Tauger / For The Times)

Voting data specialist Paul Mitchell said he expected people to avoid the polls in California on Tuesday because of the Associated Press’ Monday announcement that Hillary Clinton had secured enough support to become the presumptive nominee.

That could play a significant role in down-ticket races, including whether two Democrats get the majority of votes in the race to replace U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Political observers had largely predicted that Democrats’ contested presidential race would spur more Democrats to vote Tuesday, while the essentially settled Republican race would keep Republicans at home, opening the door for Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris and U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez to move on to November’s general election.

California’s voter rolls grew by almost 650,000 in the final six weeks of registration. Three of every four new voters were Democrats.

According to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll, 28% of California registered voters surveyed said they supported Harris, compared with 20% for Sanchez. No other candidate had more than 6%.

But with AP’s announcement, voters will be bombarded with news that the race has been called for Clinton, Mitchell said.

“It’s all going to be built upon the concept that the race is over,” he said. “This is going to pop the balloon of what was potentially an extremely high poll voter turnout.”

Sanchez was expected to benefit from the splintered or reduced Republican vote, but if Democrats also stay home, that could open the door for one of the better-known Republicans in the race, he said.

“The total sum of all Democrat votes cast is going to be lower,” Mitchell said. “It ends up giving a little advantage to Republicans making the runoff in the U.S. Senate race. It brings the partisanship of turnout back into balance.”

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Everything you need for the California primary

A record number of Californians have registered to vote before Tuesday’s primary. Still to be determined is how many will actually cast a ballot. To save yourself from any confusion, read on. To learn more about all of the races, read our primary primer.

How do I find my polling place?

Glad you asked. Look up your county here. You’ll either be able to search by ZIP code, or scroll through a list of polling places.

What if I don’t want to vote in person?

There’s still time for you to vote by mail. Your ballot must be postmarked by Tuesday. Any vote received up to three days after the primary will be counted.

I know who the presidential candidates are. What about the others?

Local races vary district by district. Learn about the top ones here and here.

Everyone can vote for the U.S. Senate, where Democrats Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez are leading. Learn more here.

Any ballot measures I should know about?

Proposition 50 is the only ballot measure in the June 7 election. If it passes, a 2/3 vote would be needed to suspend a lawmaker. During that time, salary and benefits would be taken away. Currently, a suspended legislator would still get paid. Learn more about it here.

Is there any music out there that would prepare me to exercise my right to vote?

Wow, that’s an oddly specific genre of music you’re asking about. Luckily, we’ve made a playlist to get you excited about democracy and your rights.

Lastly, how can I keep up with the primary day news?

Follow coverage on our Essential Politics live blog, and track our reporters who are on the campaign trail.

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California settles lawsuit over failed government payroll project

It’s been three years since the collapse of a massive technology project intended to overhaul California’s outdated payroll system for state workers, leading to finger-pointing between officials and the contractor hired to do the job.

Now the state has prevailed in a lawsuit intended to recoup the money paid to the contractor, SAP Public Services.

Controller Betty Yee announced the $59-million settlement Monday evening.

“I am pleased that we have settled this important litigation on beneficial terms that advance the objectives and protect the interests of the state and its taxpayers,” she said in a statement.

The project, which was intended to unify and upgrade how the state issues paychecks for 240,000 state workers, ran aground after testing revealed serious problems. At that point, the state had paid SAP more than $50 million and spent a total of $254 million on the project.

“SAP is satisfied with the outcome of this matter and is pleased to put this dispute behind us,” said Andy Kendzie, a company spokesman, in a statement.

As part of the settlement, the company dropped its own lawsuit against the state.

“There is justice in a resolution which strips all profits and ill-gotten gains from a company producing shoddy work,” said a statement from California Treasurer John Chiang, who filed the state’s lawsuit when he was controller.

SAP was the second contractor to be fired from the project; state officials previously terminated a deal with the company BearingPoint. A legislative report said lax state oversight is partially to blame for problems with the project, which is long overdue and over budget.

The state has yet to hire another company to take over the project, and has not offered a timeline on when that will happen.

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State Senate candidate by Bernie Sanders’ side on jaunt through San Francisco

As legislative candidates make a final push before their primary contests Tuesday, one state Senate hopeful’s stumping attracted more attention than most.

Jane Kim, the San Francisco supervisor running for state Senate, strolled alongside Bernie Sanders as the Democratic presidential contender ambled through San Francisco’s Chinatown on Monday.

She also joined the Vermont senator at a canvassing kickoff event in the city’s Mission District.

“Bernie Sanders is speaking exactly to the very issues that my constituents here in the city care about -- affordable housing, solutions to homelessness, the wealth gap,” Kim said in an interview.

“If you want to talk about the wealth gap, San Francisco is exactly the picture of what the wealth gap looks like,” she added. “My district has both the wealthiest and poorest residents in our city. And Bernie Sanders is talking abut strengthening the middle class and closing that gap.”

Kim is one of a handful of state legislative candidates throughout the country that Sanders has endorsed, as he seeks to boost progressives on the lower rungs of the political ladder.

Her race — against fellow Democrat Scott Weiner, another San Francisco supervisor — is an example of how divides within the Democratic Party have set off fierce electoral battles since the implementation of the top-two primary.

Wiener has the backing of much of the Democratic establishment, including Sen. Mark Leno, the termed-out incumbent in that district, and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Kim said she hoped Sanders’ coattails would have an impact Tuesday — and in November.

“Bernie Sanders is having a huge impact by bringing out more young voters, more progressive voters,” she said. “We’re hoping that voters will continue to vote down the ticket and make sure that we’re not just getting progressives at the federal level but also at the state and local level too.”

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Democrats take aim at GOP heavyweights’ ballot initiative on transparency in Legislature

One month after a group led by prominent Republicans submitted a ballot measure to change the rules of the Legislature, Democrats in the state Capitol are now pushing for lawmakers to tackle the issue themselves.

But on Monday, the initiative campaign’s backers accused lawmakers of trying to muddy the waters for voters on Nov. 8.

The initiative championed by Sam Blakeslee, a former state senator, and influential GOP donor Charles Munger, Jr. is aimed at ending the long-standing Sacramento practice of quickly drafting and enacting controversial legislation.

The initiative would require almost every bill in the Assembly and Senate to be in print for 72 hours before final passage. It also includes new provisions for posting video online of all legislative proceedings and would expand public rights to record video and audio of the Legislature in action.

Blakeslee and Munger’s group gathered more than 1 million voter signatures and could qualify for the ballot this month.

On Monday, Democrats in both houses essentially introduced the exact same proposals. The legislation would also require voter approval on this fall’s statewide ballot.

The key difference in the two versions: Legislators are seeking a little more wiggle room in the bill introduced last week. Their proposal would allow the 72-hour rule to be waived when a bill is considered in its first house, as long as a supermajority of that house’s members approve.

“This 11th hour legislative package would only serve to confuse voters by placing a second weaker initiative on an already crowded ballot,” said Blakeslee, one of the backers of the political campaign. The group posted an online comparison of the two proposals on Monday afternoon.

But at least one outside group hopes lawmakers and activists will find common ground on a single proposition for voters to consider.

Jim Mayer, chief executive of the bipartisan group California Foward, said the goal should now be for all sides to “work together to see if they can develop an even better proposal.”

And under a 2014 law that changed California’s initiative process, there’s a way to do that: The backers of an initiative can withdraw their measure as late as June 29 if they’re willing to strike a deal with the Legislature.

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Here’s a handy guide to California’s U.S. Senate race

California voters on Tuesday go to the polls in the state’s primary election to decide among the 34 candidates in the running to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer.

For those out there who could use a quick study guide on the major candidates and where they stand on the issues, the Los Angeles Times has it covered.

Read about the top five candidates and how they performed in their two debates. You can also find out what our latest poll shows and why some of California’s most generous donors have decided to sit this one out.

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In California’s U.S. Senate race, one Democrat hits the road and another hits the airwaves

Democratic U.S. Senate hopefuls Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez took different routes on the campaign trail on the last day before California’s June 7 primary election.

Harris, the state attorney general and solid front-runner in the race, continued her four-day bus tour across Southern California. After chatting with commuters at the Santa Monica Expo Line stop Monday morning, Harris hit the road for UC Santa Barbara to meet with students.

After a weekend of meeting with voters across Southern California, Sanchez is spending Monday doing media interviews.

The Orange County congresswoman told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that she expects Latino voters to come out in force on Tuesday to oppose presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his fiery rhetoric against immigrants.

“They are angry that someone is going after them. They’re looking very carefully at what our candidates, especially if they are Democrats, are saying, and they are going to show up to vote tomorrow.”

Latino voters are expected to be Sanchez’s strongest base of support. A new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll found that the congresswoman was backed by 43% of Latino registered voters surveyed, compared with 16% for Harris and single digits for the top GOP contenders.

Harris leads among all registered voters surveyed, however. The survey found 28% supported Harris, compared with 20% for Sanchez.

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Guilty plea from former Assemblyman Tom Calderon

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Legislator wants to shine light on law enforcement after killing bill to open police records

A state senator wants Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris to tell the Legislature how to deal with what he called a “prevalent crisis” in the public trust of law enforcement.

“It is impossible to deny the growing number of incidents involving peace officer misconduct, violence and deadly events,” Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) wrote in a May 27 letter to Harris. “There is clearly a grave problem not only in California but throughout the nation.”

Lara asked Harris to create a Department of Justice task force to recommend how lawmakers should handle the issue and report back to the Legislature by Jan. 1. Lara said he would push for funding in ongoing budget negotiations.

Lara made the request the same day that the Senate Appropriations Committee, which he chairs, killed a bill from Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) that would have opened up some internal records on police misconduct to the public.

Leno wanted the public to be able to access internal reports on officers found to have committed sexual assault or racial profiling, lied on the job or were responsible for other serious examples of misconduct. It also would have made available investigations of officer-involved shootings and other major use-of-force cases. Leno argued public disclosure would boost trust in police by making the disciplinary process more transparent.

Laws in approximately half of the states keep most public employee personnel records private, though California is one of three to specifically exempt police records from disclosure.

Leno’s bill, SB 1286, had received substantial opposition from law enforcement groups, whose lobbyists argued that making misconduct records public would violate privacy and threaten officer safety.

Neither Lara nor any other senator on the committee gave a reason for spiking Leno’s legislation. But in his letter to Harris, Lara blamed the increased cost for police agencies to respond to requests for records as well as “numerous issues that would make it unworkable.”

In an interview, Leno said he was unaware of Lara’s letter to Harris until supporters of SB 1286 sent it to him. Leno, who is chairman of the Senate’s budget committee, also said no one has requested funding for a police transparency study in the upcoming budget, which faces a June 15 deadline for passage.

The only solution to a lack of police transparency is more transparency, Leno said.

“I don’t really know that the public needs to invest tax dollars into figuring out that the public needs to know when police have had charges of misconduct sustained,” Leno said.

A spokesman for Harris said the attorney general was still evaluating Lara’s request. Lara’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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NRA group in California produces video opposing Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s gun control initiative

A coalition backed by the National Rifle Assn. has produced a video opposing a gun control initiative by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom by appealing to women who might use guns for protection.

The group posted the video on YouTube and claimed it will run on television, but declined to release those details.

The video depicts a woman walking to her car in a dark parking garage being assaulted by a man. The woman pulls out a gun, but when she pulls the trigger there are no bullets. The video ends with, “Take away our rights. Take away our life.”

Newsom’s initiative, proposed for the November ballot, would require background checks for those who buy bullets, ban possession of ammunition magazine clips holding more than 10 rounds, provide a process for felons and other disqualified persons to relinquish firearms and require owners to report when guns are lost or stolen.

The video posted at wheresmyammo.com was produced by the Coalition for Civil Liberties. That group was created by gun groups including the California Rifle & Pistol Assn., which is the official state association of the NRA.

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Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sides with Duf Sundheim in U.S. Senate race

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A win for Gov. Jerry Brown on his parole ballot measure

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A look at campaign finance troubles in CA-44

When a candidate runs for a seat in Congress, he or she raises money to fund two different campaigns: one for the primary and, if they make it, another for the general election.

An individual donor can give a maximum donation of $2,700 toward each of those campaigns. The money must be kept separate, meaning $2,700 given to support the general election campaign in November can’t be spent on advertisements ahead of the June 7 primary.

That’s why state Sen. Isadore Hall (D-Compton) and his campaign for the 44th Congressional District may have a problem.

His primary opponent, Nanette Barragán, an attorney and former member of the Hermosa Beach City Council, has accused Hall of breaking election law by spending almost $100,000 of general election funds on the primary.

The Times looked at federal records and talked to two independent election attorneys to get their takes on the issue.

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A look at one of the nastier congressional campaigns

There are 10 candidates on Tuesday’s ballot to replace Democratic Rep. Janice Hahn of Los Angeles, but it looks as though the contest will come down to two very different Democrats: state Sen. Isadore Hall III (D-Compton), a member of the Legislative Black Caucus, and Nanette Barragán, an environmentalist, attorney and former member of the Hermosa Beach City Council.

What first looked to be a quiet race has heated up with accusations of ethical misdeeds and carpetbagging between Hall and Barragán, and the accusations could continue to fly past the primary should they be the top two finishers to face each other in the general election.

At first Hall was the shoo-in, carrying several endorsements from state Democrats including the congresswoman, who is running for county supervisor. But Barragán has mounted a sharp primary campaign in part by hitting Hall for his ties with special interests in the oil, alcohol and tobacco industries. And she has caught up to Hall’s early fundraising lead to make the race competitive.

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Sanchez heads to WeHo, Inglewood to check in with supporters

Rep. Loretta Sanchez bounced from stop to stop around Southern California on Sunday, shaking hands in Inglewood, asking in Spanish for votes in downtown Los Angeles and mingling in shops in West Hollywood.

As the Senate primary race winds down, Sanchez and other candidates across the state worked to get out their supporters this weekend.

Right before the lunch rush, Sanchez swept through Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles, where her opponent, Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, had visited the day before.

After Sanchez posed for selfies at his table, Tyrone Rodgers, 47, of Manhattan Beach said that he had just started looking at candidates. He plans to vote Tuesday and supports Hillary Clinton.

“I don’t see anybody who compares to her right now,” Rodgers said. “She has a long track record.”

A few blocks down the road, Sanchez spoke with the dozen or so people waiting in line at Randy’s Donuts, as her staff passed out water bottles and tote bags.

Capitalizing on a captive audience, she made her way down to the cars waiting in the drive-through line, leaning against the windows and asking people how many doughnuts they were going to buy. She lamented not having time to get in line herself.

Tessa Osborn, 28, of Redondo Beach said she hadn’t made a decision yet on the Senate race, but meeting Sanchez made her stand out.

“Loretta just made a definite impression on me,” she said. “Her thoughts on water and imigration and what she can do for California and this country is exactly what we need.”

“There are 34 names, look for Loretta Sanchez,” Sanchez told patrons of a restaurant on Olvera Street.

She meandered through the market space, pausing to pose with a mariachi band and singing to an elderly couple in Spanish as she handed out fliers.

One man said he recognized her from her annual Christmas card, which for years featured the congresswoman and her pet cat Gretzky in various adventures.

Sanchez leaned over the patio railing at El Paseo to ensure that Alex Galindo, 34, of Anaheim planned to vote.

He said he’s been with Sanchez since she entered the race. He hasn’t decided who to support in the presidential race Tuesday.

“I like how she’s humble. There’s a lot of politicians that throw out empty promises. I just like her whole point of view [and] direction,” he said.

Sanchez said in an interview that she’s hoping Latinos excited about the chance of electing the first Latina in the U.S. Senate will turn out Tuesday.

“We wanted to remind them in particular to get out and actually vote on Tuesday because they can be excited, but if they don’t vote then we don’t win,” she said.

Sanchez rushed up to West Hollywood next, where she lingered with patrons on the patios of several restaurants.

At the Abbey, Tom Dunlap, 58, of West Hollywood was excited to see his old friend. His company has fundraised for Sanchez and he’s already voted for her.

“She’s always been very proactive in the gay community and very proactive for many of the same positions that I stand for,” he said.

As Sanchez walked down Santa Monica Boulevard, a man yelled, “Go Loretta!” from the patio at St. Feliz. At Bar10, Sanchez rushed through the crowded patio to hug patrons.

J.L. Rigaud, 50, of Los Angeles said he’s still divided on who to support in the Senate and presidential races, but he plans to make a decision in time to vote Tuesday.

“I have two more days,” he said, adding that he’s narrowed it down to either Sanchez or Harris. “I really like both of them.”

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Kamala Harris spends final weekend before U.S. Senate primary campaigning in black churches

California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris traveled across Los Angeles with a constellation of political heavyweights Sunday, attending services at a string of predominantly African American churches.

Harris was joined by African American leaders, including Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), former Rep. Diane Watson and former longtime Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke.

“We are going many places,” she told the crowd at Holman United Methodist Church. “We are going to get this done.”

Churchgoers gave Harris a warm reception.

Standing in the lobby of the Southern Missionary Baptist Church in West Adams, parishioner Rosetta Saunders, 69, of Inglewood said she was proud to have already cast her ballot for the woman she hopes will become the first black U.S. senator from California.

She said she was pleased with her tenure in office and disagreed with some members of California’s Legislative Black Caucus who criticized Harris for not backing a bill what would have required Harris’ Department of Justice to investigate fatal police shootings.

“Each community and city and mayor should have input on those investigations,” she said.

At the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Los Angeles, churchgoer Jackie McClellan, 70, said she thought more should be done to prosecute officers in fatal shootings but she did not fault Harris.

“She has done a good job for us.”

Even though Tuesday is only the primary, some of Harris’ supporters were already looking down the road of her political future, even past November.

As Harris walked out of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church for her next stop, the Rev. J. Edgar Boyd turned to her and said: “By the way, we’ll need somebody to replace Hillary Clinton in eight years.”

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‘I think Loretta just made a definite impression on me’

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‘We’ll need someone to replace Hillary Clinton in eight years’

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This is what it’s like to go to church with Kamala Harris

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Kamala Harris: It’s up to Sanders when to quit the race

At a campaign stop Saturday, Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris said it should be up to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders when to leave the race.

“We have to let the process see itself out, because we’re not yet at the point where the convention has arrived, there’s still states, obviously, voting. That’s a decision I think individuals should make,” she said.

Harris, who is running to replace Sen. Barbara Boxer, is a Clinton supporter.

Sanders said at a news conference Saturday that he doesn’t believe former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will clinch the nomination on Tuesday and he plans to push forward to contest the Democratic convention in July.

Sanders and Clinton are locked in a tight race ahead of California’s June 7 primary.

Clinton leads the overall Democratic race by any measure — the number of votes cast, the number of pledged delegates and the number of superdelegates. Other state’s contests occurring Tuesday could put her over the delegate threshold before California’s polls close and Sanders has been trying to keep the cable networks from calling the race for Clinton and blunting his momentum.

“I think that Bernie has lent a really important voice to this election cycle, Harris said. “I love seeing the kind of participation that he’s bringing out among young voters and a cross section. I am supporting Hillary, but I think Bernie is very important to this process.”

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State Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris campaigns across Southern California

With just days left before polls close, campaigns across the state are knocking on doors, calling supporters and doing whatever they can to get out the vote.

On Saturday, Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris stopped by a half-dozen family owned businesses in Southern California to remind patrons to vote.

The day started with a breakfast-time stop at Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles near Los Angeles International Airport. Customers paused to chat with Harris or take a photo.

Start-up manager Michael Tuso, 27, of Playa del Rey, leapt from his meal when Harris neared his table. He’s already voted for her, but wanted a photo and a chance to talk to a woman he thinks should run for president one day. He said he was eager to vote for her in the Senate race.

“She’s a pragmatic, solutions-based person,” he said. “I’ve known about her for a long time, and was kind of hoping she’d jump into the race.”

Tuso said he, like Harris, backed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for president.

“I strongly support powerful female voices leading the country,” he said.

The chicken-and-waffles chain is becoming a popular stop for politicians. President Obama made a suprise stop in 2011. Harris’ opponent, U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Orange), will stop at Roscoe’s in Inglewood tomorrow morning as she works to get out the vote for her campaign.

At the San Pedro Fish Market, Harris got a tour of the raw fish for sale before making her way to the sun-baked patio to talk with families tucking into platters of crab, squid and oysters. More than a few tables of people were drinking from hollowed out pineapples.

A family of 20 or so crowded together with Harris and yelled “Warriors!” as photographers snapped away. Harris volunteers arranged for lunch and broke out a deck of playing cards as she moved from table to table.

After Harris cooed over the infant she was holding, Krystle Green, 29, of Ontario said in an interview that she plans to vote for Harris on Tuesday.

“She seems very personable and like she actually wants to do something,” she said.

Green said she’s leaning toward Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the presidential race.

“Honestly, my opinion right now is anything’s better than Trump,” she said.

Harris’ lunch of calamari, shrimp and scallops under a Tecate banner fluttering in the light breeze was put on hold repeatedly as people stopped by the table.

At Lola’s Mexican Cuisine in Long Beach, Harris had barely stepped off her campaign bus when Marie Deary, 48, of Long Beach came running up, yelling to her niece, “Bring the phone, bring the phone. It’s Kamala Harris!”

Deary said she likes that Harris worked to hold banks accountable after the housing crash and tried to keep Californians in their homes. Deary’s been a supporter since Harris’ first attorney general race in 2010.

Inside Lola’s, the crush of staff and local politicians that followed Harris from table to table kept Barry Cox, 41, of Long Beach from being leaving, so he ordered a drink.

Cox said he was impressed with Harris’ record, though he doesn’t like her stance on gun control.

“I’m proud of her accomplishments, she believes in what she’s doing, she’s moved by her convictions and I like that. She’s broke ground as a woman, as a black woman at that, or a woman of mixed heritage,” Cox said.

He’s leaning toward supporting Republican businessman Donald Trump in the presidential race, saying he was disappointed in Clinton’s time as secretary of state.

Nonetheless, he said he hasn’t had time to study the candidates and doesn’t plan to vote.

“I’m not as educated as I’d like to be. When it comes to the presidential race, I’m a little bit more knowledgeable. In California though, I won’t waste my vote. California always goes to Democrats,” Cox said.

Harris weaved through the bustling crowd at Porto’s Bakery in Downey and got a quick tour of the kitchen — and a cake they’d made with her campaign’s logo.

Harris said in an interview it was important to her to stop in at family-owned businesses so close to the election.

“That’s always important to me. Truly our small businesses are really a part of the economic engine of our state and I think that they need to be seen and highlighted more,” she said.

As she left the restaurant to head to a walk along the Los Angeles River with supporters, she prodded patrons to remember to vote.

Jonathan Saavedra, 31, of Whittier said he plans to vote for her Tuesday because he like Harris’ experience as attorney general. He’s also leaning toward backing Clinton because of her experience.

“She seems like a tough politician and she knows what she’s doing,” Saavedra said of Harris. “She’s going to get the job done and is a good successor to Barbara Boxer.”

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U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez works to rev up voters in Whittier

Rep. Loretta Sanchez stopped off at an outdoor classic car show in Whittier Saturday, speeding through the crowd to shake hands and pose for photos.

Pausing to speak to several voters in successsion, Sanchez urged them to come out to vote for her for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, warning them “it’s a long, long list of candidates — 34 of them.”

“You have to make sure to find my name, Sanchez, OK?” she asked Natalie Robles.

Robles said she appreciates Sanchez’s appearance at the event.

“She’s actually coming down to our level and making contact with the people,” said Robles, who added that she is still undecided about the candidate she will vote for in the race.

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A Senate victory may be unlikely, but GOP campaign volunteers haven’t given up

Campaign volunteer Liz Ritchie calls voters urging them to support Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tom Del Beccaro.
(Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times)

Liz Ritchie knows the odds are against any Republican winning a U.S. Senate race in a state dominated by Democrats, but she spent her Saturday burning up some cell phone minutes anyway trying to convince California voters that it’s possible.

Ritchie, proundly smoothered in red-white-and-blue, joined about 20 volunteers at a make-shift call center inside the Walnut Creek law office of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tom Del Beccaro.

The office echoed with telephone pleas to voters, urging them to support Del Beccaro in Tuesday’s primary.

“I think we’re ready for a shift of power,” said Ritchie, who also supports Republican Donald Trump for president. “I think there’s a lot of burnout among a lot of voters, not just Republcians.”

Ritchie says she’s backing Del Beccaro because he’s the “only true conservative” in the race.

For weeks, Jeff Belle of Walnut Creek has positioned himself at Bay Area Rapid Transit stations across the region handing out of Del Beccaro campaign pamphlets.

“People are very receptive. But usually only on their way home, not in the morning when they’re going to work,” said Belle, a member of the Contra Costa County Board of Education.

Belle, who was among the call center volunteers Saturday, also knows it’s an uphill climb for Del Beccaro, especially on such a low-budget campaign.

“I believe in Tom. I believe he has the right message,” Belle said. “Sometimes you have to stand up for what you believe.”

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‘She held the banks responsible’

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Senate hopeful hits the shooting range to win over gun rights supporters

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Dialing for Senate votes

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At Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles

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On the trail with California’s U.S. Senate candidates

We’re following U.S. Senate front-runners Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris and Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Orange) around Southern California this weekend as they campaign ahead of Tuesday’s primary.

Follow LATimesPolitics on Snapchat to get a behind-the-scenes view of the day.

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California’s registered voters hit record high ahead of Tuesday presidential primary

With one of the most closely watched presidential primary seasons in modern times, California’s voter rolls grew by almost 650,000 in the final six weeks of registration. And three of every four new voters were Democrats.

On Friday, Secretary of State Alex Padilla released the final report of voter registration prior to the June 7 statewide primary. The deadline to register for Tuesday’s election was May 23.

Of the 646,220 people who registered in the final rush —between April 8 and May 23 — 76% became Democrats.

California’s total voter registration now stands at 17,915,053. That’s the largest number ever registered heading into a primary election.

And the rush all happened at the end. In fact, 98% of all the growth in California’s voter ranks in 2016 happened in just the last 45 days of the registration season.

“Part of this surge was fueled through social media, as Facebook sent a reminder to all California users to register to vote,” Padilla said in a statement. “It is clear that Californians are engaged and excited about this election.”

While hundreds of thousands registered to vote, the percentage of eligible Californians who have registered is slightly lower than at the same time in 2012. And it remains lower than its historic highs of a generation ago.

The springtime influx of Democrats has widened the gap between the state’s dominant party and other subsets of voters, most notably Republicans.

Republicans now trail Democrats in size by more than 17 percentage points, and Democrats have topped the 8 million mark for the first time. Even so, the GOP ranks did grow slightly over the final few weeks of voter registration — just not as fast as Democrats.

The surprise may have been the slight drop in Californians who are unaffiliated with any party, known as having “no party preference.” Often the fastest-growing part of the electorate, some unaffiliated voters decided to join a political party in the final 45 days of registration.

That could be a function of the presidential race. While Democrats are allowing “no party preference” voters to cast a ballot for Hillary Clinton or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders next week, Republicans are holding a closed presidential primary. Only registered GOP voters can participate.

The state’s minority political parties all saw their numbers decline, none more than California’s American Independent Party. In the weeks following a Los Angeles Times investigation showing widespread confusion about the party’s name and being an “independent” voter, AIP membership fell by about two-tenths of a percent.

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Live coverage from the campaign trail

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Federal Election Commission cites five California candidates for not filing report

The Federal Election Commission cited five California candidates Friday for failing to file a 12-day pre-primary report as required by federal law.

The Commission did not receive reports from:

  • Phil Wyman for U.S. Senate
  • Friends of Dr. Rita Ramirez for U.S. Congress District 8
  • Dr. Fox 2016 (Richard Fox is running in the 18th congressional District)
  • Elect Massie Munroe BS MS PE Civil Environmental Engineer to U.S. Senate
  • Emory Rodgers for Senate

The pre-primary report was due May 26 and should have included the campaign’s financial activity between April 1 and May 18. It provides a glimpse into how campaigns are using their money in the final weeks of the race.

The commission decides whether to pursue criminal or financial penalties on a case-by-case basis.

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A preview of the June primary on this week’s California Politics Podcast

From voter turnout to the impact of the presidential race, the June 7 primary in California is shaping up to one of the most interesting in years.

On this week’s California Politics Podcast, we take a quick look at what’s ahead and what it might mean.

I’m joined this week by Marisa Lagos of KQED News. You can subscribe to the weekly podcast either on Soundcloud or on iTunes.

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Lawmakers unplug a plan to commercialize California’s electronic freeway signs

Lawmakers deadlocked this week on a bill to allow electronic freeway billboards operated by California to show commercial advertising as a way to pay for transportation improvements.

However, opponents of the measure said Friday that they would not be surprised to see the proposal brought back next year.

The measure by Sen. Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) failed Thursday on a 19-17 vote, two votes shy of the majority needed for passage in the Senate.

The state has 832 changeable message signs used to let motorists know about road conditions, driving safety tips and Amber Alerts involving children believed to have been abducted.

State officials estimated that the proposal could generate $100 million to $200 million annually for maintaining or upgrading the electronic signs and repairing California’s crumbling roads and bridges.

“There is no debate that we have highway maintenance and repair needs,” Huff told his colleagues.

But Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) said he worries about the commercial ads leading to motorists “driving while being distracted,” and would undermine the public service purpose of the signs.

“If we don’t use the tools for their intended purpose, then over time their real use will be minimized or ignored,” Moorlach said.

The bill was also opposed by Dennis Hathaway, president of Los Angeles’ Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight. “It’s a terrible idea to put advertising on the signs,” Hathaway said.

“Putting them right in the line of sight, having that kind of potential distraction, is totally irresponsible.”

Noting that the billboard industry sees the signs as a gold mine and has tried unsuccessfully before to gain access to them, Hathaway said he does not think the Huff bill is the last try.

“This is a case where bad ideas never die,” Hathaway said.

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We’ll know the fate of Gov. Jerry Brown’s parole ballot measure on Monday

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Lawmakers in budget committee cold to the governor’s housing plan

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Effort stalls to expand L.A., Orange, San Diego county boards of supervisors

A bill that would have let voters expand the boards of supervisors in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties has quietly died for the year after strong opposition emerged from Southern California leaders.

State Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) proposed the ballot measure to increase representation of minority residents in those counties, but the bill was opposed by some Democratic and Republican members of the Los Angeles County board who said it would create a more bloated and expensive bureacracy.

“I did shelve that bill,” Mendoza said hours before Friday’s deadline for bills getting out of their house of origin. “For this year we are done with that one.”

Mendoza said he lacked the two-thirds vote needed for the bill even though he believes that creating additional seats on the county boards would improve the opportunity for Latinos, African Americans and Asian Americans to win more seats and therefore have better representation at the county government level.

“I am disappointed because I think its so desparately needed, but sometimes you need to wait for the right moment,” Mendoza said.

In San Diego County, the board is made up of five white members even though the last U.S. census estimate indicated that Latinos, Asian Americans and African Americans make up nearly half of the county’s population.

Currently, the five-member Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors includes one African American and one Latina. Orange County has three Asian Americans but no Latino or African American members.

“We desperately need more of a localized voice,” Mendoza said. “With too many people being represented by each supervisor, you get drowned out by the other folks.”

However, Mendoza’s proposal had drawn opposition from officials including Los Angeles County Supervisors Sheila Kuehl, a Democrat, and Michael Antonovich, a Republican.

“It’s a terrible idea,” Keuhl said. “Since Los Angeles County now has a progressive majority, it seems to me this is a thinly veiled attempt to neutralize that majority. It’s really political. It has nothing to do with representation.”

Keuhl said the board has increased field staffs and offices to better represent communities, which she said is “a much better way to serve people than to spend millions of dollars on two new offices.”

County voters have rejected measures to expand the board of supervisors six times, in 1922, 1926, 1962, 1976, 1992 and 2000, Antonovich noted.

“Bigger government does not mean better government,” he said. “If bigger government was the answer, then the city of Los Angeles, with its extra council members, would be the most efficient, responsive and cost-effective municipality in the county.’’

He said the expansion would not add one more sheriff’s deputy, firefighter or librarian.

“Instead, it would drastically increase the county’s overhead costs, require the hiring of hundreds of staffers and force taxpayers to foot the bill,” Antonovich said.

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Latino voters and Bernie Sanders supporters favor Loretta Sanchez in Senate race

U.S. Senate hopeful Loretta Sanchez’s chances of finishing in the top two in Tuesday’s primary, which would win her a ticket to the November general election, may depend on turnout among Latinos and Bernie Sanders supporters, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll.

The survey found that the Orange County congresswoman had strong support among Latinos and a narrow edge over her top Democratic rival, Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris, among voters who back the Vermont senator’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Harris has solidified herself as the front-runner in the race to succeed the retiring Barbara Boxer in the Senate. And though Sanchez is in the No. 2 spot in many polls, Republicans George “Duf” Sundheim, Tom Del Beccaro and Ron Unz could be within striking distance if one of them can somehow consolidate GOP voter support.

The USC/Times poll found 28% of California registered voters surveyed said they supported Harris, compared with 20% for Sanchez. Harris’ support was even stronger among Californians most likely to vote in Tuesday’s primary, with 34% saying they favored her, compared with 14% for Sanchez.

Del Beccaro and Sundheim each had 6% support among registered voters surveyed, the poll found. Unz was backed by just 4%. The USC/Times poll only asked about the five candidates who have appeared in debates for the Senate seat.

A new Field Poll that surveyed voters on all 34 candidates on the ballot found that 30% of likely primary voters said they supported Harris, compared with 14% for Sanchez.

A cluster of five Republicans trailed behind in that poll: Phil Wyman, Greg Conlon and Del Beccaro with 4%; and Sundheim and Unz with 3%.

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Bill to make it easier to build ‘granny flats’ passes Assembly

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Effort to break up California Public Utilities Commission passes Assembly

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Assembly kills bill to give California farmworkers overtime pay

Legislation to give farmworkers in California additional overtime pay beginning in 2019 was rejected Thursday by the state Assembly.

“Historically, farmworkers have been left out of equal protection under the law,” said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego).

The final vote -- which featured a number of Democrats either voting against the bill or abstaining -- came after a long and emotional floor debate, watched closely by the agricultural industry and members of the United Farm Workers labor union.

AB 2757 would have required overtime pay for agricultural employees, phased over three years.

While those workers currently receive overtime pay after ten hours, the bill would have brought that down to an eight hour threshold over the three years.

The bill would also have allowed for suspension of the overtime rules by the governor if California’s new minimum wage increase is also suspended due to an economic slowdown.

The issue of overtime pay for farmworkers has been debated several times in the state Capitol over the last few years. A 2010 effort was vetoed by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Will it ever be the right time?

— Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), author of the farmworker overtime bill

Gonzalez, the bill’s author, argued that critics have always said the timing of the idea wasn’t right.

“You have a very clear choice,” she told the chamber. “Will it ever be the right time?”

Assembly members on both sides of the bill rose to offer impassioned statements, many focusing on the family incomes of workers or the economic challenges facing some farmers. At least two members, on opposite sides of the AB 2757 debate, quoted scripture from the Bible.

I want to hire more people but I can’t, because of the constant assault on farmers.

— Assemblyman Brian Dahle (R-Bieber), a Northern California farmer and opponent of the overtime bill

Opponents largely argued that it would force large farmers to shift to double shifts to avoid triggering the new overtime, and small farmers to either lay off farmworkers or not hire them at all.

Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Nicolaus), whose family farms in rural Sutter County, said that traditional workplace rules are a poor fit for an industry ruled by weather and price pressures out of the farmers’ control.

“We’re not price setters,” he said. “I’m not McDonald’s.”

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount), however, said the question facing lawmakers couldn’t be answered by additional study and research.

“The economics are pretty speculative,” he said. “This is about righting a wrong.”

Gonzalez said in a post on Twitter that she would try again in 2017.

UPDATED June 3, 11:15 a.m. This story has been updated to reflect that the bill would not have taken effect until 2019, not in 2017 as originally stated. Additional information has been added to clarify that farmworkers currently receive overtime pay after ten hours.

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California Coastal Commission could expand under bill approved by Assembly

The state Assembly on Thursday approved a bill that would expand the California Coastal Commission with three new members representing low-income communities experiencing environmental problems.

The bill, which now goes to the Senate for consideration, is one of several introduced this year in response to controversy over the recent Coastal Commission decision to remove Executive Director Charles Lester during a closed-door session with little public explanation.

Assemblywoman Autumn Burke (D-Marina del Rey) introduced the bill to expand the board with new members who must work directly with communities in the state that are most burdened by high levels of pollution.

“We rely on the Coastal Commission to preserve our natural resources and access for all Californians,” Burke said. “By adding new membership, overlooked communities will no longer be relegated to public comment — they’ll have a seat at the table.”

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‘We need to continue fighting for equality’: Assembly approves gender-equity pay bill

Continuing efforts to close the pay gap between men and women, the California Assembly on Thursday approved a bill that would prohibit employers from seeking salary histories from job applicants.

Assemblywoman Nora Campos (D-San Jose) argued that employers use the salary histories as justification to continue underpaying women.

“The fact we are still having to argue that women workers should be paid fairly and equitably for their work is outrageous,” Campos said. “I’m glad my Assembly colleagues agree we need to continue fighting for equality.”

The assemblywoman cited U.S. Census data indicating that women average 79 cents in pay for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. African American women earn 60 cents for every dollar, she said.

AB 1676 next goes to the Senate for consideration.

The California Chamber of Commerce and other business groups opposed the bill, arguing that basing compensation solely on an applicant’s prior salary is already recognized as a questionable business practice. They say more time is needed to see how a bill approved last year, SB 358, works. That measure requires same pay based on substantially similar work.

Campos had an identical bill last year that was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown, who said that he agreed that “we must endeavor to ensure that all workers are paid fairly” but that he had just signed the other gender-equity bill.

“This bill, however, broadly prohibits employers from obtaining relevant information with little evidence that this would assure more equitable wages,” Brown wrote in his veto message. “Let’s give SB 358 a chance to work before making further changes.”

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After rejecting State Bar of California funding, Assembly passes a revised plan

Two days of private negotiations among lawmakers resulted Thursday in brand-new legislation that would change the State Bar of California’s governing board and examine the idea of a major overhaul of the quasi-state agency.

On Tuesday, lawmakers rejected an earlier version of a funding plan, criticizing how little reform there was in that bill for an agency that’s long been at the center of controversy and conflict.

The vote on AB 2878 was decidedly different, as the negotiations settled on a handful of additional items that backers applauded as reform. They include a new state bar governing board that could not have a majority of its members as attorneys.

The bill would also expand audits of the agency and create a commission to report back on the “de-unification” of the State Bar of California’s dual roles as a professional association and a regulator of the legal profession.

Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) called it the “bare minimum to right the wrongs” of the agency.

The bill now heads to the state Senate.

UPDATE June 3, 1:06 p.m. This story was updated to correct the bill number. It is Assembly Bill 2878, not Assembly Bill 1676.

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The case of the mysterious donations to congressional candidate Justin Fareed

In his first run for Congress two years ago, Justin Fareed, a relative newcomer to politics, relied mostly on his own money. He didn’t make it past the primary.

This year, the 28-year-old Republican, a former UCLA Bruins running back, has significantly more money to work with — $1 million.

Most of it — 80% — came from people living outside his Santa Barbara district. And nearly $200,000 has come from donors with ties to two of the state’s largest nursing home operators.

The businessmen, Lawrence Feigen and Shlomo Rechnitz, of L.A.’s Westside, have given the maximum allowed contributions, as have members of their families and their friends and employees.

Fareed has drawn fundraising strength from the medical community and donors in West Los Angeles.

At least 90 of Fareed’s 490 donors live in the Hancock Park, Fairfax and Mid-Wilshire neighborhoods. Supporters in the 90036 ZIP Code contributed a combined $235,000 to the candidate — nearly 25% of the money Fareed brought in since the campaign began.

Many of those Westside donors have ties to the medical industry, according to donation records filed with the FEC.

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Tax-free tampons measure passes California Assembly

The state Assembly approved a bill Thursday that would make tampons and other feminine products exempt from sales and use taxes at the state and local level after its author said it was unfair to penalize women.

Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), who introduced the bill, noted that California women pay more than $20 million annually on taxes on tampons and sanitary napkins, which she said are essential health items for women.

“Should California be in the business of taxing women for their biology?” she asked her colleagues.

Garcia noted that many other products are not taxed, including tickets to the movie theater and candy bars. “We value motion pictures and candy over women’s health,” she said before the unanimous vote to approve her bill.

The measure next goes to the Senate for action.

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Senate advances bill requiring cigarettes to be sold in tobacco-only stores in California

The Senate on Thursday approved a bill that would ban the sale of tobacco products in supermarkets and other stores where minors are allowed to shop without adult supervision.

Sen. Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) said his proposal to limit tobacco sales to tobacco-only stores would protect minors from marketing efforts to get them to smoke and avoid the negative health impacts of smoking.

“The concern that we have is the advertisements and the exposure that kids have in the Vons, in the Safeways,” he told his colleagues.

Tobacco-only stores would be defined as those who get 60% of gross revenue through sale of tobacco products.

The vote comes after CVS Caremark Corp. announced it would end tobacco sales in its drug stores.

The American Lung Assn. in California also supports the bill.

“By limiting the sale of tobacco products to tobacco-only stores, this bill limits the ability of the tobacco industry to market tobacco to our kids,” the association said in a letter to lawmakers.

Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) voted for the bill even though she said she worried it might lead to a glut of tobacco stores on every corner of low-income communities traditionally targeted by tobacco marketing.

The bill was also opposed by the California Retailers Assn.

“While tobacco is a legal product in California, our members would like to continue to responsibly offer it for sale to age-appropriate consumers,” the group wrote to legislators. “In fact, our members have been licensed to sell tobacco products for many years and have done so responsibly.”

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Campaign donation limits would apply to all city and county races, under legislation approved by the Assembly

Donors to local candidate campaigns would be banned from giving contributions larger than $4,200 under legislation approved by the Assembly on Thursday.

“This is an imperfect system,” said the bill’s author, Assemblyman Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco), in referring to the role of money in politics. “But what is a glaring omission is that you could have a contribution of any size that most certainly could influence the outcome of an election.”

AB 2523 would apply to any local government that has not already established its own campaign contribution limits. A report by California Common Cause found only 23% of the state’s cities and 28% of its counties have rules placing limits on the size of contributions.

Republican opponents to the bill argued that it’s transparency, not limits, that is needed in local campaign fundraising.

“Let’s have disclosure,” said Assemblyman Don Wagner (R-Irvine). “That’s good government. Not artificial rules.”

AB 2523 includes a provision that allows cities and counties to opt out of the state mandate if local voters agree.

The bill passed on a 43-15 vote and now heads to the state Senate.

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State Senate seeks to bar criminal charges against minors for prostitution

The state Senate voted Thursday to approve a bill that would prohibit filing criminal charges against minors for prostitution after lawmakers argued the teenagers and children are the victims of others.

State Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) said her bill protects minors from being victimized twice by facing criminal charges for activity to which they cannot legally consent.

“This is not an appropriate or ethical response to this growing epidemic,” Mitchell told her colleagues.

Most Republicans voted against the bill, with some having voiced concern about decriminalizing any prostitution. Sen. Joel Anderson (R-San Diego) supported the change.

“It protects children that are abused,” Anderson said before the vote, which sends the bill to the Senate for consideration.

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Police will be able to view body camera images before writing their reports under bill passed by Assembly

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Immigrants here illegally could have chance to buy health coverage if Brown signs legislation

Neurosurgeons perform surgery at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
Neurosurgeons perform surgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

The state Senate on Thursday sent Gov. Jerry Brown a measure that would ask for federal approval to allow immigrants in the country illegally to purchase their own health insurance through the Covered California exchange.

State Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) said his bill may lead to an estimated 390,000 immigrants who earn an income too high to qualify for Medi-Cal to fully pay for healthcare coverage through the state exchange under the Affordable Care Act.

Lara said the bill sent to the governor would show leadership while Congress continues to be gridlocked on immigration reform.

“It is immoral to discriminate against a group of people simply because we are playing politics in D.C.,” Lara said. “Today we are saying give us an opportunity to once again demonstrate that California is a leader … for showing that we care about our most vulnerable Californians.”

He noted that the people involved would not receive any taxpayer subsidies.

While some Republicans supported SB 10, state Sen. Jeff Stone (R-Murrieta) said the proposal would make California a “magnet” for immigrants coming to the United States illegally while also hurting state residents.

“Our constituents who are here legally still face many challenges,” Stone said. “This bill puts … more people into our health system and it will make it more difficult for people to see a doctor.”

State Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego) called the bill a “humane” proposal that he predicted would reduce costs as more people pay for their coverage.

“We are the most prosperous country in the world,” Hueso said during the floor debate. “We can afford to do this.”

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How the governor’s housing plan would change development in San Francisco and Los Angeles

The site of a proposed housing development in San Francisco's Mission District.
(Liam Dillon / Los Angeles Times)

For three decades, residents of San Francisco and Los Angeles have been able to shape nearly every large residential development before it gets built. Now, a new plan from Gov. Jerry Brown, would wipe away some of the strictest rules over development in those cities and others like them provided that projects include housing for low-income residents.

Experts said Brown’s plan likely wouldn’t make a huge dent in the state’s housing crisis, but could fundamentally change how housing gets approved across California by removing some of the power neighbors have over developments near them.

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November statewide ballot measures will soon be all set

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Donald Trump lands in Sacramento, takes aim at both Clintons

Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday that he intended to wage a summer and fall campaign against both Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, a one-two attack that drew cheers from a boisterous crowd here.

“These are crooked people,” said the presumptive Republican nominee. “They’ve been crooked from the beginning.”

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Bernie Sanders fires up crowd at Davis rally

Less than a week before election day in California, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spoke to a crowd of more than 9,000 supporters on the campus of UC Davis, hitting on his major campaign theme that the U.S. political system is rigged in favor of Wall Street and against regular Americans.

In the hourlong speech, Sanders outlined his platform to provide free public college education, reduce student debt, boost Social Security benefits and disengage from foreign wars.

“We have the establishment very nervous and that is a good thing,” the Vermont senator said.

Sanders spent comparatively little time discussing Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. He mocked Trump for his denial of climate change and the drought in California and knocked Clinton for taking donations from corporate interests.

Sanders also repeated his endorsement of a November ballot measure in California to legalize recreational marijuana.

In states with large voter turnout, Sanders said, his campaign wins -- and he’s expecting the same here next week.

“If there is a very large turnout next week we will win big,” he said.

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Sanders rally gets going near UC Davis

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Dwindling days, full mailboxes as primary approaches

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A shorter Trump speech

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Fact check: Donald Trump says 1 in 5 children in Sacramento live in poverty

While revving supporters in Sacramento on Wednesday night, Donald Trump insisted that 1 in 5 children in the state capital lived in poverty.

Which, based on different studies, is up in the air.

A “Children’s Report Card,” produced by the Sacramento Children’s Coalition in 2012, found that between 2007 and 2011, 1 in 5 children in the city lived in poverty.

However, a recent study from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that Northern California — including Sacramento County — had some of the lowest poverty rates in the state.

That study found that the poverty rate for the youngest children — age 5 and under — varied from 20% to 32% across the state, with the low end of those numbers in Northern California.

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Trump gets crowd to boo Gov. Jerry Brown

At his rally in Sacramento, Donald Trump complained about California Gov. Jerry Brown, and asked the crowd whether anyone there liked the Democratic governor.

The response? Boos.

Not a huge surprise, given Brown’s recent endorsement of Hillary Clinton.

But here’s a statistic to keep in mind. The last USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll found 19% of Republican voters and 1 in 5 Trump supporters approved of the job Brown is doing as governor.

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Trump Jam in Sacramento

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Trump has a label for the media

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Doing a little campaigning as he awaits Trump

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Spotted inside the hangar where Trump will speak

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Senate approves backup cash for L.A. Olympics bid

The state Senate on Wednesday approved a bill that would have the state cover up to $250 million in liabilities if Los Angeles’ bid to host the Summer Olympics in 2024 is approved and the effort goes over budget.

Sen. Kevin De León (D-Los Angeles) downplayed the likelihood the state would be required to write a check, noting that the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles were a financial success and boosted the California economy.

“The $250 million appears to be a large sum of money, but the bid is structured in a way that ensures profitability in the 2024 Olympic Games,” De León said, noting no major new construction is planned and the city is first in line to cover $250 million in costs.

The vote was 35 to 1 to approve the bill and send it to the Assembly for consideration.

Sen. Andy Vidak (R-Hanford) said he opposed the measure because it represented “messed up” priorities.

“This quarter-billion-dollar credit line gives gold to the L.A. City Council so that SoCal politicians can play big shots at the 2024 Olympics,” Vidak said in a statement.

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Supporters, protesters gather in Sacramento ahead of Donald Trump’s rally

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Police body camera transparency bill voted down

Members of the California Assembly Wednesday voted down a bill to allow public access to some police body camera footage.

The legislation from Assemblyman Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) would allow the public to request police body camera footage in incidents where officers were accused of excessive use-of-force, including police-involved shootings, two months after an investigation began. Under the bill, a judge could withold the footage in cases that led to an officer’s criminal prosecution.

Quirk said he was motivated by circumstances surrounding the Chicago police killing of teenager Laquan McDonald. City officials didn’t release video of the shooting until 13 months after it happened. The officer involved was charged with murder in the hours after the video’s posting.

“To not release this is a great insult to the idea that body-worn cameras increase trust in police departments,” Quirk said.

His bill fell 15 votes short of passage. There was no debate on the floor. He has asked his colleagues to reconsider the vote, but the bill faces a deadline of the end of the week to pass the Assembly.

Assuming lawmakers don’t change their minds, Quirk’s bill would be the second measure in as many weeks that would have increased public access to law enforcement records to fail.

Last Friday, a Senate committee killed a measure from Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) that would have opened up some internal records of police misconduct to public disclosure. There now are no bills pending in the Legislature that would substantially boost transparency of law enforcement records.

Three other police body camera bills are still alive this session. Legislation from Assemblyman Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove) would require officers to view camera footage before writing their reports. It also faces a Friday deadline to pass the Assembly. Bills from Democratic Assemblymen Evan Low of Campbell and Miguel Santiago of Los Angeles would further limit access to camera footage. They’ve both passed the Assembly and are awaiting action in the Senate.

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California lawmakers invoke UCLA shooting in passing gun-control bills

The same day as a fatal shooting at UCLA, the state Assembly on Wednesday approved a package of gun control bills including an expansion of the state’s gun restraining order law allowing courts to take firearms away from people judged to be a danger to themselves or others.

The five bills, which next go to the Senate for consideration, were introduced in response to the San Bernardino terrorist attack last December that killed 14 people.

Current law allows law enforcement officers and family members to ask a court to issue a restraining order removing guns from the person in question for up to one year.

The new bill allows employers, co-workers, teachers, mental health professionals and school administrators to also petition the court for gun-possession restraining orders.

Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) invoked Wednesday’s fatal shooting on the UCLA campus in arguing for his bill.

“Right now the rights that I care about are the rights to go to school and not get shot,” he said during what was an emotional floor debate. “I don’t want to walk into my office and worry that I may be gunned down. Today’s shooting at UCLA was the the 186th [school] shooting since Newtown, Conn., in 2012.”

Sen. Rocky Chavez (R-Oceanside) said the bill is “clearly an overreach” and goes too far in infringing on 2nd Amendment rights and allows the courts to take away guns without sufficient due process.

The Assembly also approved a measure prohibiting the sale of semi-automatic weapons with detachable magazines that can be removed with a “bullet button.” Those who already own such guns would have to register them with the state as “assault rifles.”

Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael) said his bill plugs a “dangerous gap” in the law regulating assault weapons.

Republicans opposed the measure. “This bill does nothing to protect us,” said Assemblyman Devon Mathis (R-Porterville). “It actually hampers our ability to protect ourselves.’’

The Assembly also approved a bill that would prohibit Californians from buying more than one long-gun per month per-person.

Sen. Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) said many guns bought in bulk purchases end up being used in crimes. He cited one case in which one person bought 177 guns on one day.

“To me its mind-boggling that any individuall would need that many guns,” Santiago said.

Republicans, including Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez of Lake Elsinore, said the bill will hurt law-abiding hunters and collectors.

“Those are the people you are affecting, your average constituent,” she said. “This isn’t going to reduce the gun violence.”

Other bills approved would make it a misdemeanor to falsely report a gun stolen and require registration of home-made guns.

Last month the state Senate approved a sweeping package of gun control measures.

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Drugmakers would give advance notice of price hikes under plan approved by state Senate

The state Senate on Wednesday took action to shine a light on skyrocketing prices for many prescription drugs, approving a bill that requires drug manufacturers to provide 60-days notice to purchasers if the cost is going to be increased by more than 10%.

The bill by Sen. Ed Hernández (D-West Covina) said his bill would also require drugmakers to give notice when a new drug will cost $10,000 or more annually or during a course of treatment.

He cited examples including an anti-hepatitis drug that cost $84,000 for a course of treatment. He said the price of generic antibiotics went up 2,000% in one year. The bill follows other measures that promoted cost transparency in healthcare.

“Shining a light for the first time is having the greatest impact on our healthcare system,” Hernández told his collegues. “Members, this is not price control. This is transparency.”

The bill was approved on a vote of 24-8 with many Republicans opposed.

Sen. Jeff Stone (R-Murrieta) said some expensive drugs have dramatically improved treatment.

“Reduced profits will lead to less innovation with fewer life-saving remedies,” he said.

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Bernie Sanders supporters’ voting rights lawsuit rejected by federal court

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Lesbian PAC endorses Kamala Harris’ Senate bid

The country’s only lesbian political action committee, LPAC, has endorsed California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris for U.S. Senate.

“I’m so grateful to have the support of LPAC in this race. There is so much more work to be done across the country in order to ensure equality and equal rights for all people,” Harris said in a statement.

LPAC has also endorsed the state Senate bids of former Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and Democrat Katherine Perez-Estolano, who is running to succeed Sen. Carol Liu (D-La Cañada Flintridge).

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Legislators approve $3-billion low-income housing bond to address statewide shortage

State senators upped the ante in negotiations over affordable housing Wednesday by approving a $3-billion bond designed to build and rehabilitate housing for low-income residents, the homeless and farmworkers.

The measure from state Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Jose) would pay for new housing construction — specifically for development near transit and in high-density urban areas — and provide housing for farmworkers and mortgage assistance to address California’s severe housing shortage.

“The state needs to take bold action to add to the housing stock,” Beall said.

Beall said he modeled the bond on one from a decade ago that created 92,000 units for low-income residents over time. For context, the state’s independent Legislative Analyst’s Office has estimated the state needs roughly 110,000 units beyond what’s already planned each year for people at all income levels to keep pace with rising housing prices. But most experts believe that public housing subsidies are needed to ensure affordability for the state’s poorest residents.

The measure involves a tax increase to pay back the bonds, and still requires a two-thirds vote in the Assembly and the signature of Gov. Jerry Brown before it would appear on the crowded November ballot. Two Republican senators, Anthony Cannella of Ceres and Bob Huff of San Dimas, voted for the housing bond Wednesday, and the measure would also need GOP support in the Assembly.

But even if the bond doesn’t appear before voters, it adds another layer to the intense debate over affordable housing at the Capitol.

Gov. Jerry Brown has rejected calls from legislators to spend money from the state’s day-to-day operating budget on housing subsidies, saying they don’t deliver enough bang for the buck. Instead, he’s proposed legislation to streamline the approval process for affordable housing projects.

Brown wants his bill to be passed as part of next year’s budget, which faces a June 15 deadline. Democrats in the Legislature are pushing the governor to include more than $500 million in housing subsidies in the budget.

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Villaraigosa targets Trump’s ‘anti-immigrant’ policies

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State lawmakers vote to cap nonresident enrollment at UC schools

Amid outrage over the number of out-of-state students taking spots in the University of California system, the Assembly on Wednesday voted to approve a 10% cap on nonresident enrollment phased in over the next six years.

The measure by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) would require that resident undergraduate enrollment be increased by 5,000 students per year through 2023, and that nonresident enrollment decreased by 1,700 annually during that period.

Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown (D-San Bernardino) told her colleagues that her granddaughter had a 4.0 grade point average but was told to not bother to apply to the UC system because she would not get in.

“It’s unfair that our students are not allowed to get into the colleges that we pay for,” Brown said during the floor debate.

A recent audit criticized the UC system’s reliance on nonresident admissions.

Last year, freshman admissions by residents were reduced by 2.1% systemwide from the year before, while nonresident admissions increased by 13.2%, McCarty said.

A legislative report said nonresident students received 34% of offers at UC Berkeley, 41% at UCLA, 39% at UC San Diego and 35% at UC Davis.

Although the vote on the bill was unanimous, Assemblyman Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara) warned that the measure might have the opposite effect of what is intended because nonresident students pay higher tuition.

“This would reduce the revenue that UC has,” Williams told his colleagues, adding “it could actually reduce in-state enrollment.”

The measure next goes to the Senate for consideration.

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Lawmakers take step toward eliminating statute of limitations for sex crime prosecutions

The state Senate approved a measure on Wednesday that would end the statute of limitations for rape and several other sex crimes in California.

The measure by Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) would allow the indefinite criminal prosecution of rape, sodomy, lewd or lascivious acts, continuous sexual abuse of a child, oral copulation and sexual penetration.

Currently, prosecution of rape must take place within 10 years, unless DNA evidence is discovered afterward.

“SB 813 will help to prevent rapists and sexual predators from evading legal consequences in California simply because the statute of limitations has expired,” Leyva said. “Regardless of when a rape or sexual assault is reported, survivors must have an opportunity to pursue justice in a court of law for the unthinkable crimes committed against them.

The senator cited a report by the U.S. Department of Justice that estimated only 2 in 100 rapists will be convicted of a felony and spend any time in prison.

The measure’s supporters include San Bernardino County Dist. Atty. Michael A. Ramos as well as private attorney Gloria Allred, who represents women who have alleged they were sexually abused by comedian Bill Cosby.

The bill is opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice and the California Public Defenders Assn.

Opponents argued that the bill does not address the core problem of the underprosecution of rape cases and that women who come forward years later may not be believed by law enforcement.

The bill next goes to the Assembly for consideration.

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State panel approves raises for governor, legislators

A citizen's panel appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown has approved a 4% pay raise for some in state government, including the governor.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Citing the improved economy and healthy state budget, a state panel on Wednesday approved 4% pay raises for the governor, legislators and other elected state officials.

California legislators already receive the highest base salary of any state legislators in the nation, but the action by the Citizens Compensation Commission boosts legislators’ salaries from $100,111 to $104,115.

The second highest pay goes to legislators in Pennsylvania, where the base pay is $85,338.

The panel, which was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown, boosted the governor’s salary from $182,789 to $190,100.

In comparison, the governor’s salary in Pennsylvania is $190,823, though Gov. Tom Wolf does not accept the salary.

Commissioners said the raise is fair given that rank-and-file state workers have gotten raises since the end of the recession.

“There was a commitment that should the budget improve salaries would improve as well,” said Commissioner Nancy Miller, an attorney. “I’m looking at a modest increase for the folks we have power over.”

Commission Chairman Tom Dalzell noted that legislative compensation is actually closer than it appears to other states because lawmakers in other, large states get pensions while California lawmakers do not.

The raise was criticized as unjustified by Lew Uhler, president of the California-based National Tax Limitation Committee. Uhler said legislators and the governor have failed to act sufficiently to deal with a multi-billion-dollar unfunded liability in state pensions and health care costs for retirees.

“Clearly the people of the Legislature don’t deserve any monetary approval for their disasterous results,” Uhler said.

The raises also go to 11 other state elected officials: The attorney general, superintendent of public instruction, controller, treasurer, insurance commissioner, lieutenant governor, secretary of state and four members of the State Board of Equalization.

Even with the raises, state officials’ salaries are below the levels they were in 2008 before the recession, when legislators made $116,208 in salary, commissioners noted.

The compensation panel cut salaries of elected officials by 23% from 2009 to 2012 after deciding they should share the pain of deep budget cuts that included putting most other state employees on multiple unpaid furlough days per month.

About 84% of the lost salary has been restored through pay raises in recent years.

State officials estimate the newest state budget will result in an $11-billion reserve fund at the end of the year. Officials are counting on voters approving a ballot measure in November that extends Proposition 30’s income tax increase on the state’s most wealthy residents.

The pay increases will take effect Dec. 7.

Updated at 12:15 pm to include comment by taxpayer activist Lew Uhler.

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California’s senators bet on Bay Area teams to win

California’s U.S. senators are betting the Golden State Warriors are going to win the 2016 NBA Finals over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals is Thursday night.

Sen. Barbara Boxer and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown set the terms of their bet this week. The loser will have to don the winning team’s colors and deliver beer from their district to the winner’s office.

Boxer wagered beer from 21st Amendment Brewery in San Leandro. Should the Warriors win, she’ll get beer from Platform Beer Company in Cleveland. Boxer’s staff said it’s up to the loser to decide on how much beer is needed to settle the bet.

The two made a similar bet last year, with Brown having to pay up after the Warriors beat the Cavaliers in six games.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein made a similar bet Wednesday with Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), wagering a case of Chardonnay from a to-be-determined California winery against a case of Great Lakes beer from Cleveland’s Great Lakes Brewing Company.

The Warriors aren’t the only Bay Area sports team Feinstein is wagering on.

Last week, Feinstein bet Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) a case of California Chardonnay that the San Jose Sharks will beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals. Casey bet a bottle of Pittsburgh-made Wigle Wiskey.

The Penguins beat the Sharks 3-2 in game one on Monday night. Game two is tonight.

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Votes are coming in, so is the lawsuit too late?

A federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday morning will hear complaints by a group of California voters and one of the state’s minor political parties regarding confusion about the state’s primary rules.

The plaintiffs wanted voter registration extended all the way until Tuesday, the day of the primary.

A key question will no doubt be whether it’s simply too late.

One analysis shows some 1.7 million votes already cast by mail. And Tuesday was the deadline to request a ballot by mail.

We’ll be covering the hearing here, or you can follow me on Twitter.

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